Mario & Luigi: Eclipsed Memories
by JaberandCamgar
Summary: In this "Mario & Luigi" RPG fangame idea, the Mushroom King gets kidnapped by a race of toad men called the Sapians who escape into the Dream World. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toadette all go to his rescue, encountering a Shroob, Prince Dreambert, Princess Daisy and an autistic Toad along the way.
1. Bios

**Cast**

Heroes

**Mario:** The superstar of the Mushroom Kingdom. The humble plumber has saved the Princess countless times from Bowser and his Koopa Troop. And it's not just limited to the Mushroom Kingdom, he has left his mark all across the world, on the Moon, and even in neighboring galaxies! _(Donkey Kong - 1981) _

**Luigi:** As Mario's kid brother, Luigi often finds himself in his twin's shadow. But despite this, he still deserves as much recognition. In fact, there have been times in where Green 'Stache has had to rescue his brother from the unsolid hands of ghosts, who tested his courage. But Luigi has always emerged successful. There have been plenty of times in where the Brothers needed each other to succeed. _(Mario Bros. - 1983)_

**Princess Peach:** The fair, benevolent Princess Peach has been oppressed by Bowser far too many times. But there have been several times when she has fought back on her own accord, even to the point of returning Mario the favor by rescuing him. She has an army of Toads that are loyal to her, and they only wish for peace in the world. She has a deep relationship with Mario, which makes perfect sense, as she had been rescued so many times by him. _(Super Mario Bros. - 1985)_

**Toadette:** A cute Toad girl with plaited locks. Toadette is one of the six founding members of the Toad Brigade and has a love for adventure, getting much more than she could have hoped for in this story. While most members of her race, male or female, can be quite cowardly; Toadette is a major exception. Her talents seem to have no bounds as she has partaken in racing, sports, designing and building Papercraft, and hosting parties with her big brother, Toad, and even going into medical practices! _(Mario Kart Double Dash! - 2003)_

Supporting Characters

**Princess Daisy:** The ruler of a nearby empire known as Sarasaland, Princess Daisy has close ties to Peach as the two are distant relatives. Some of her subjects include Gao, Mekabons, and Tokotoko. While they are all quite peaceful by nature, they had all been brainwashed by the alien Tatanga when he attacked their land. Daisy is a tomboy by nature, and has always excelled in aggressive sports such as soccer. _(Super Mario Land - 1989)_

**Mushroom King:** The Mushroom King has never before made any appearances in the Super Mario franchise, so I gave him a starring role in this RPG. A wise and discerning ruler in his own right, he took his place in the Toadstool regime well before his daughter's birth. After coronating her as a co-ruler, he realized that he could step aside and let Peach handle all the affairs, as she was naturally gifted in it.

**Professor Elvin Gadd:** A brilliant scientist with a career that spans 60 years, Professor E. Gadd is specialized in ghost research, but he is also an inventor by hobby, and has created tons of fancy gadgets. The most notable of these inventions would have to be his Poltergust 3000, a ghost vacuum; and F.L.U.D.D., a portable water pump. Both can be worn like a backpack. Additional inventions include Stuffwell, a super-sophisticated living suitcase; a pixilator that teleports individuals through a television set; and a time machine. _(Luigi's Mansion - 2001)_

**Prince Dreambert:** As the head of his people, Prince Dreambert was on the front lines when the Pi'illos were battling Antasma after the corrupted bat had taken the Dark Stone. For centuries he and his people had been petrified after the nightmarish creature shattered it. Mario and Luigi then freed the Pi'illo from this imprisonment after they learned that Luigi could spawn Dream Portals when he slept on one of them. _(Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - 2013)_

**Toadsworth:** Having been the head Mushroom Retainer at the castle for decades, Toadsworth watched and essentially raised Princess Peach as she grew up. He has always been overly protective of her, and is worried sick every time she is captured by Bowser. Mario and his friends would always bring her back without fail. This sort of stress has been found to be quite unnecessary as she has shown that she can take care of herself, sometimes taking matters into her own hands. It had been she who entered the clear pipe first in her adventure in the Sprixie Kingdom. _(Super Mario Sunshine - 2002)_

**Cappy:** A prominent member of a race of hat-beings known as Bonneters, Cappy has become a close friend and companion with Mario and enjoys travelling with him on his adventures — on his head! Cappy was a fitting replacement for Mario's cap, as the plumber had lost it in a tussle with Bowser as the Koopa King attempted to implement the forced wedding with Princess Peach. Cappy had found a large piece of it after it had been rent to pieces by the airship's rear propellers and then took on its form. _(Super Mario Odyssey - 2017)_

**Yoshi:** Perhaps the cutest dinosaur you'll ever meet, Yoshi and his asexual kind live peacefully on an island just off the main land. Though omnivorous, Yoshis love fruit more than anything; and once from decades past, they had a story focused entirely on it! Yoshi is always happy to help Mario on his many adventures, and Mario can ride him like a horse. Yoshis are capable of eating just about anything: Goombas, Shy Guys, Koopas, and even humankind if they're not careful (once Yoshi accidentally ate Luigi after winning a tennis match out of hunger and hallucination). They can grab stuff with their long, chameleon-like tongue and then hold it in their cheeks like a chipmunk. While Yoshis do have teeth, it appears that they don't really need to chew; they can simply swallow it whole and then, if they wish, turn it into a Yoshi Egg, which they can then use as a projectile weapon. _(Super Mario World - 1990)_

**Beanish:** The Beanish were the host race to Mario and Luigi when the Brothers went to their kingdom to reclaim the voice of Princess Peach from the evil Cackletta and her pupil Fawful. Fawful would later return as a standalone villain, but Cackletta was defeated and destroyed by the Brothers during their visit. The Beanbean Kingdom is a monarchy like the Mushroom Kingdom. They have Queen Bean as their ruler along with Prince Peasley, the heir to the Beanish Throne. Lady Lima is the Beanbean Kingdom's ambassador. The Brothers also encountered Popple, who called himself the Shadow Thief, and had recruited an amnesiac Bowser as a rookie. _(Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - 2003)_

**Starlow:** Starlow is a member of the Star Sprites (not to be confused with the Star _Spirits_ from _Paper Mario_), and had been adventuring with the Brothers as a guide and companion. First appearing as a representative of her people during the outbreak of the Blorbs, she ended up being inhaled by Bowser along with all the rest of those present in the conference room. She was soon discovered and freed from cell membranes by Mario, and hence started her adventures with him. She had also been chosen as a representative on Pi'illo Island. She is often portrayed as berating Luigi for his cowardice, though she appeared to warm up a little to him on Pi'illo Island. _(Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - 2009)_

**King Osama:** Like Princess Peach, Osama is also a ruler of a humanoid race: the Subcon. And like the Toads, the Subcon are a race of humble and peaceful fairies with a strong devotion to their ruler. He and his people had been overpowered by Wart and his 8-bit minions on two separate occasions. But Mario and his friends came and put a stop to the nightmare's obsessions and restored peace to the Dream World. _(BS Super Mario USA - 1996 - Japan Only)_

Enemies

**Bowser:** Nemeses to the end, Bowser will stop at nothing to eliminate Mario once and for all. Not much is known about his history other than his many, many attempts to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. The only times when Bowser would join forces with Mario would either be due to being unaware of his involvement (like with the Dark Star) or to eliminate a greater foe that threatened even him (such as Smithy). Bowser has a very short temper, and sometimes when he tries to be diplomatic, any rebuke that he gets due to his reputation will compel him to try to kidnap Peach again. Bowser's legacy is continued in the form of his son, Bowser Jr. _(Super Mario Bros. - 1985)_

**Bowser Jr:** Ever since his debut on Isle Delfino, Bowser Jr has strived to please his dad. He went along with Bowser's story about "Mama Peach" being kidnapped even though he knew it wasn't true. Junior is very proud of his heritage, and has naturally been given the highest military position in the Koopa Troop. He has his own Junior Clown Car to match that of his father, both of which have all sorts of gimmicks and weaponry. He sports a bib, though he often will use it as a bandanna. (Super Mario Sunshine - 2002)

**Kamek:** An elderly Magikoopa that had been Bowser's caretaker back when the Koopa King was just a baby, and had suffered a lot of abuse from the young Prince throughout that period. Kamek's physical appearance doesn't seem to show his age as he is practically indistinguishable from other Magikoopas. He now gets to relive much of that time period all over again in the form of Bowser Jr. Kamek takes great pride and satisfaction in giving Mario and his friends a hard time. Before Mario had gotten in his way, it had been the Yoshi Clan that had tangled with him and Baby Bowser. _(Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - 1995)_

**King Boo:** As the ruler of all Boos, King Boo desires to extend his influence to recruit other paranormal subjects. He had once trapped Mario himself inside a painting, and Luigi had to go and rescue him — easier said than done when one looks at Luigi's somewhat cowardly nature. But fortunately for him, Luigi was able to put aside this fear and defeat the necromantic monarch three separate times! _(Luigi's Mansion - 2001)_

**Broodals:** Led by Madam Broode, the Broodals were the rabbit henchmen that helped orchestrate Bowser's forced wedding to Peach. Hired by Bowser himself, they would go out and rob various kingdoms of artifacts to use in the wedding, which was to be held on the Moon. There are four members: Topper, Hariet, Spewart, and Rango. Ever since Mario crashed the event, the rabbits had developed a hatred for him themselves, claiming that no one would ever hire them again. _(Super Mario Odyssey - 2017)_

**Wart:** A terrible nightmare frog that has attempted to take over the dreamy realm of Subcon. Using an apparatus called the Dream Machine, he created hordes of minions called the 8-bits to oppress the Subcon people. Mario, Luigi, the Princess, and Toad had all gone to save this dream realm from the hands of the amphibian, having been informed that Wart hated vegetables. (_Super Mario Bros 2 - 1988)_

**Shroobs:** The Mushroom Kingdom of the Past had been invaded by this hostile alien race. Mario, Luigi, and their infant counterparts all put an end to it, especially when they discovered their biggest weakness. The Shroobs are highly intelligent with flying saucers and blasters, all of it powered by Toads' vim. They have Shroobified versions of characters like Wigglers and Yoshis, and can also turn individuals into Shroob Mushrooms or brainwash them. _(Mario & Luigi: Partners in Tine - 2005)_

**Wingo:** A gigantic bird-of-prey resembling a raven and inspired by the mythological Rocs featured in the _Arabian Nights_ fairy tales, which is all the more apparent by the fact that she sports a turban. She has a love for shiny objects, and this coveting has resulted in an enemy relationship with Captain Toad and Toadette, as they have gotten in her way of collecting Power Stars on more than one occasion. This animosity has prompted the Magicroc to kidnap the two Toads. Wingo possesses many magical abilities including teleportation, calling lightning, cloning herself, and spawning vegetables to name a few. However, she is quite susceptible to the giant turnips that she spawns, and can be decapacitated if one manages to get her to swallow one. Wingo may be one of a number of members of her species, though it is not yet determined whether they are all hostile. _(Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - 2014)_

New Characters

**Nergle "Nerr" T (****キノピヘイショウ****):** A brilliant, autistic Toad who had once been an intern for Professor E. Gadd. Majoring in computer science at the Mushroom University, he is currently an exchange student at the Sarasacademy in Sarasaland, and had become good friends with Princess Daisy after he obtained an internship at the Empirical Palace's research division. As is common for most individuals on the autism spectrum, he has lots of other interests besides computer science. One of the more prominent examples is an interest in ancient manuscripts, and was significant enough for him to go to the trouble of becoming fluent in Ancient Funguish, the most spoken language in the Mushroom Kingdom from many, many centuries past (much like Latin).

**Charlie Shroobson:** While practically the entirety of the alien Shroobs had been hostile to the Mushroom Kingdom of the Past, _this_ particular individual, however, was the odd man out. In fact, he was the complete opposite of every other Shroob he had ever met – peaceful and kind. He is perhaps the most knowledgeable of his people's technology than most of the Shroobs, and only assisted in the invasion because he was forced to comply to the Princesses' orders. During the invasion, he had been assigned to the research division at the Vim Factory.

**Sapians (****サピアン****):** A pudgy race of toad men. The Sapians had been recruited by Bowser as additional minions to pull off the events in this story. They have access to the Dream World, and it is possible that that is where they had originated from.

**Youmie (****ソンミツ****):** A green Pi'illo that assists Mario and Luigi in accessing the Dream World when Prince Dreambert was missing. He also volunteers to explore the Dream World to seek out the Mushroom King.

**Agaricus the Great:** An ancient, benevolent ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, and is the direct ancestor to Princess Peach. His father, Agaricus the Elder, had been a ruthless invader of lands. The land now known as the Beanbean Kingdom had been conquered by the Elder emperor, and then afterwards had their king, Phaseolus, publicly executed and his daughter enslaved. When his father died, Agaricus the Great sought to make amends upon ascending to power. During his father's dictatorship, he had secretly communicated with the young princess, and when he became emperor, he took her as his wife and queen.


	2. Chapter 1

_This story is complete (It's been complete since May 2019), but it wasn't until September that I decided to get an account here and post this. I plan to release chapters over time. As this story is meant to be a "Mario & Luigi" RPG with Bros Attacks (or "Sis" Attacks per se for Peach and Toadette), experience and levelup progress, enemies and bosses; the battle sequences are therefore somewhat difficult to describe in a storybook format. I have also drawn tons of sketches. Let me know if you'd like to see them._

_Without further ado, I present my first piece of literature . . . amateurish as it is._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The Mushroom Kingdom is about to experience a total solar eclipse, and the whole kingdom is hyped. Princess Peach is organizing a solar eclipse watching party in Toad Town, and everyone is invited. Her father, the Mushroom King, and Toadsworth are co-hosts. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, and Princess Daisy among others have all been invited as honorary guests. Even Rosalina has come with her Luma companions to watch the event.

The excitement began not long before the spectacle as the Princess was going through some preliminary plans for decorations and activities. All the ideas were written on a large whiteboard. Mario and Luigi were invited to attend, though Luigi had fallen asleep.

"We're gonna need to have plenty of places available for the people to view the pinhole effect and the crescent shapes that it would project on the ground," said Peach. "There aren't really many trees around Toad Town."

"Hey Princess," Cappy spoke up, assuming his real form. "I've got an idea for that. How about this?" He then changed into a straw hat.

"A straw hat?" Peach said. Mario took his sombrerous companion in his hands, trying to figure out Cappy's logic, but Peach beat him to it. "Oh, of course! That's an awesome effect! Mario, hold Cappy up to the sunlight!" Mario did so, and after positioning him in several different ways, they beheld tiny beads of sunlight that threaded the tiny openings in the hats weaving."

"During partiality, it would show dozens of tiny crescents on the ground! How clever!" Peach clapped her hands on excitement. "Let's put that in!" She quickly turned around and wrote it on the board.

A short distance away were the Mushroom King and Toadsworth, observing the Princess. Both of them felt a deep sense of pride.

"I can hardly believe how much Peach has grown!" said Toadsworth.

"Indeed," the King replied. "I remember well the day when I officially coronated her as a co-ruler. She had looked forward to that day for what felt like forever to her. It blows me away knowing that she can do it all by herself now! I haven't had to give her any guidance in ages!"

"I know," Toadsworth commented. "It feels like it was only yesterday when she was a little girl dashing through the chambers barefooted in her nightgown. It's amazing how time flies. I mean, I had been the head Mushroom Retainer before she was even born! Now look at her."

The King chuckled. "Sometimes I wish I could have those days back. Don't you?"

"I suppose," Toadsworth answered. "But then again, there were times where I was itching for this day to arrive. Especially when I met my older self and the adult Princess (which I guess would now be our present selves), back when those terrible, alien Shroobs invaded. Seeing how beautiful she would become, I knew it would be a great honor to raise her. And now that I can look back on it, it was most certainly an honor. I'll still miss those days."

As the two parties conversed, Bowser suddenly entered their midst, and he didn't look too happy.

"Bowser!" Peach shouted upon seeing him. "Why are you here?"

"Hey Princess," he bellowed. "Whatever happened to inviting _ME_ to your little discussion? I wanna participate in this festival of yours, too!"

"Really?" Peach retorted. "You didn't seem very interested when I first offered it to you. In fact, you didn't seem to want to talk to me at all! You told me to get lost!"

"Shut up!" Bowser snapped. "Why can't you ever treat me with respect?"

"Respect?" Peach repeated, rolling her eyes. "You expect me to treat you with respect after you tell me just now to shut up? That's very hypocritical, you know. It doesn't make me want to address you at all if you treat me that way." And sensing that Bowser was fuming all the more, Mario jumped into their midst.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Bowser roared. "This is starting to get really stale. Come here!"

After several hits, Bowser chuckled. "Yep! Just like old times. But then again, old times quickly get old. It needs a little spice." He snapped his fingers. For a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, a Thwimp fell from above and hit Mario on the head, knocking him out cold. The Boo that had been concealing it revealed himself, laughing . . . Bowser laughing even harder.

"Ha! How do you like that, Peach?" Bowser bellowed. "That's called _element of surprise!_ Without your knight in shining armor, you're all mine! Give it up!"

For a time, the two ran around much like a game of cat-and-mouse through several of the castle's chambers. Peach soon found herself cornered in her own Throne Room and cowered in despair.

But just then, her mind was suddenly flooded with memories: she remembered the numerous times when Mario would cut the rope or press the button to send the platform tumbling down into the lava — and Bowser with it; she remembered being trapped inside her castle's stain-glass window and subsequently freed using the Power Stars; she remembered floating to the ground on her parasol and seeing Mario with his head facedown in the sand; she looked back on the one time when she turned the tides and set out to rescue the plumber herself; she recalled all the times when she had kissed him, whether it be on his head, his cheek, or his big nose; and then she reminisced on that day when the two were shoving their flower gifts in her face to win her favor and how she pushed them both away in annoyance. There were scores of other anecdotes that trafficked through her nerves and slowly building up within her. This thought inundation was so engrossing, that she didn't notice that her whole body had begun to glow. It filled her with determination.

_"NO!_ I cannot let this happen AGAIN!" she cried. She then stood up, and upon doing so, all of whatever power that had been building up was discharged in a powerful shockwave. Bowser was knocked off his feet, and all of his minions were stunned. It took a moment for the Princess to realize what had just happened, and when she did, she was shocked.

"Good grief! What did I just do?" she gasped. Bowser was soon back on his feet, having only been temporarily stunned by the burst of energy.

"What on earth was that?" he said. "That was very impressive, I must admit. But unfortunately for you, it's not enough. Ready to surrender, Princess?" He again approached her. But this time, Peach stood her ground as she was still full of determination.

"Bring it on!" she shouted with confidence.

"Who would have thought that the Princess would fight back?" Bowser chuckled. "I haven't seen this in a while! Show me some muscle, missy!"

And indeed, the Princess did. Bowser found that she could stomp on his head with as much power and panache as the Brothers could.

"Ugh, I forgot how strong you can be when you're like that," Bowser said. "Why don't you ever fight like this on any other day? It'd make my victory all the more rewarding! I'd be able to tell everyone as ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom that she put up a fight to the bitter end! It doesn't make any . . . uh . . ." And Bowser suddenly found himself quite woozy. In the next moment, he blacked out. It seemed that the shockwave had some sort of delayed effect on him. The Koopa King slumped to the floor right there in the throne room.

"Okay . . ." Peach murmured. "I guess that settles it. Can someone get Bowser out of here?" And seeing that Bowser was out for the count, about a dozen Toads entered and dragged him out.

"Sometimes I wish Bowser weren't so short tempered," Peach thought to herself. "I could find him plenty of things for him and his minions to do during our festival. If we ever need a large tent in our festival, Paratroopas could hold the fabric up while the supports are being inserted. Then a Goomba Tower could be used to hoist Toads up to the level of those supports and latch them in place. And during the holidays, Paratroopas could also put on the topmost ornaments and star easily on a large Christmas tree; we would never need a stepladder! Bowser would be able to keep them from terrorizing the guests; they listen to him. Yeah . . . it's all wishful thinking . . ." She returned to Mario in the first chamber and saw that he had finally recovered and was now surveying the situation. Seeing Peach, he ran over to her.

"Don't worry, Mario," she assured him. "_I_ took care of things this time. Let's put our discussion aside for now. I think we've had plenty of excitement for one day. In the meantime, let's head over to Yoshi's Island. They are having their annual Fruit Festival soon, so I want to make sure that we're there in plenty of time. Luigi! Wake up! We're leaving now. Go get ready!" And the Brothers promptly headed back to prepare.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I wish I could come with you," Toadsworth said to the Brothers as they were preparing. "The Yoshis' Annual Fruit Festival always sounds quite attractive and delicious. But it is my duty as the Head Mushroom Retainer to watch the castle when both the Princess and the King are away. You can always bring me back some of your favorite fruits, though. I believe Toadette will also be joining you guys later. She has always wanted to attend the Festival, probably because she has a deep affection for the Yoshis. She has always loved animals, and I guess the Yoshis have affected her in a similar way. But over the past few years, she had been caught in other affairs. I believe once it was because she and Captain Toad had been abducted by Wingo. This year, she's just running a little late as she wants to go over everything to make sure that she's all set for her recital after the eclipse. Toadette should be there in time to fully experience the festival. Have fun!"

As the Brothers were about to leave, Starlow arrived.

"HELLO YELLO!" she said gaily. "It looks like I arrived just in time."

"Hi Starlow!" Cappy addressed. He assumed his true form. "Mario told me about you, but I don't think I've met you personally yet. I'm Cappy. I helped Mario crash that wedding between Bowser and Peach not long ago, as Bowser had kidnapped my little sister Tiara. She should be coming to watch the eclipse, too."

"It's nice to meet you, Cappy," Starlow acknowledged. And as Starlow had no hand to shake with, the two bumped shoulders (or the closest thing) similar to a fist punch. Polterpup was there, too, having seen Luigi pack his Poltergust 3000 and insisted to come along. Upon seeing the Star Sprite arrive, he jumped up in the air to greet her.

"Luigi . . . you have a ghost dog for a pet?" she couldn't help but ask. "I thought you were afraid of ghosts." Luigi then went into detail about the events surrounding the Dark Moon.

"Did the Star Sprites send you as a representative again?" Toadsworth asked.

"Kind of," Starlow answered. "I actually came out of my own desire to attend, too. If only to hang out with Mario and Luigi again; I've come to enjoy their company. There's never a dull moment with the Mario Brothers!"

"True. Very true," Toadsworth responded. "Well, I must be off to manage the castle. Enjoy the festival."

So Mario and Luigi headed out while Polterpup relaxed in the Poltergust 3000. After travelling through Toad Town and chatting briefly with several Toads, they approached the entrance to the Toadwood Forest in the southwest.

"Hey guys, I feel like it would be a good idea to do some battle practice before entering," Cappy spoke up. "I'm sure that we'll encounter plenty of creeps as we travel through the Toadwood Forest; I don't want you guys to be ill-prepared; it has been a while since your last adventure." He assumed his main form. "Here. You guys can use me for jumping practice. Mario, I take it that by now you know to use (A) to jump, and Luigi is the same way with (B). But I think you two should practice it together." So Mario and Luigi complied and practiced their jumping commands by jumping on Cappy. They even earned EXP afterwards.

"You guys still got it!" Cappy proclaimed excitedly.

The Brothers could handle all of the enemies that they encountered during their trek through the Forest. They looked at the trees on either side of the path and remembered the terrible feelings they had when there had once been dozens of Toads trapped in them having their vim drained. It put them at ease seeing that there were no longer any such victims on the trees now.

"So this was the forest where that big Vim Factory was?" Cappy inquired. The Brothers nodded. "That must have been horrible to see. The Toads are such an innocent and peaceful race. I can't imagine what it was like to have all the life sucked out of them."

They eventually traversed the Forest and reached the western seashore. Right as they passed the last few trees, several Lakitus approached them. As the Bros went into battle, Starlow looked at them for a few moments and said, "I just recalled that those things can throw Spinies. You guys won't be able to jump on them. Did you bring your hammers with you?"

The Brothers produced them.

"Great!" she beamed. "It looks like you guys came prepared. You can use the same commands to control your hammers as well. All you need to do is select the hammer icon from your battle options. Let's do this!" And the two brothers swiftly made short work of the bispectacled Koopas.

They saw Yoshi's Island about a mile out to sea and the Peak jutting far out above the horizon. Just ahead of them were several scenic binoculars.

"I'll bet we could get an even better view of the Island by capturing one of those pairs of binoculars over there, huh?" Cappy said, taking notice of them. "I think we can spare a few minutes." Mario threw Cappy at a pair of binoculars, and the incredible process suddenly took place! But this time, Cappy focused on bringing Luigi and Starlow along with Mario as well.

"WAIT, WAIT! I don't know if I'm ready for this!" Starlow protested in terror. "AIIEEEEE!"

"Don't worry, Starlow! It's perfectly safe!" Cappy called back. "Enjoy the ride!"

Over the next few minutes, the three of them surveyed the horizon from their lentil eyes. Upon closer examination, they could get a glimpse of Yoshi Village. The details of the mountain were much clearer, too. And, turning slightly south, they also could catch, far off in the distance, the tall icy mountains of Joke's End in the Beanbean Kingdom.

"That was the scariest experience I've ever had in my life!" Starlow said shivering as the three of them returned from the binoculars.

"Hey, you've gotta admit," Cappy responded. "Looking out over Yoshi's Island from 100 feet in the air in a pair of binoculars must have felt incredible. Mario was a little shaken when I had him capture that frog back in Bonneton for the first time."

"I thought your capturing ability only applied to Mario," Starlow told him, still shaking.

"Not necessarily," The Bonneton replied. "When Mario captured Bowser and was escaping from the lunar caverns with Peach, I had the three of them all capture a Spark Pylon, and we escaped as a bolt of lightning. Compared to that, getting all three of you into binoculars was much easier to pull off. Anyway, let's head over to the festival. I saw a sign a way's back saying there's a Warp Pipe not far away that leads straight to the island. Let's go!"

And on exiting the Pipe, they found themselves right at Yoshi's Island not far from the village. Stepping off of the pipe and walking into town, they found the Princess and the King waiting for them. As they approached the monarchs, they saw that Peach had brought Perry with her.

"Welcome back to Yoshi's Island!" she greeted them. "Did you guys have any trouble getting here?"

"Aside from the usual enemies, not really," Starlow answered. "I did experience what it's like to capture something though." Both Peach and Perry chuckled.

"Oh Cappy! Did you really?" she asked him.

"Yeah," the Bonneton replied with a laugh. "I had Mario capture one of those scenic binoculars bringing Luigi and Starlow with him, and we all took a look at the surrounding ocean. We had time."

"It looks like you guys have started the excitement even before you got here," the King said. "Ready to try out some fruit?" The Bros jumped zealously.

The Yoshi's Island Annual Fruit Festival had tons and tons of varieties of fruit and fruit recipes on display. Isle Delfino was an obvious contender, with the Piantas and Nokis bringing many of their savory, fruity umami such as bananas, durians, papayas, and pineapples. They also brought one or two of their best watermelon specimens from the Watermelon Festival on Gelato Beach that had happened shortly before and offered watermelon smoothies. The Beanish had brought some of their Chuckola Fruit and Beanfruit and brewed Chuckola Cola on the spot. And yet, though quite refreshing, it was nothing like the Legendary Chuckola Reserve. Rosalina brought over Blimp Fruit and Bulb Berries from the stars. She had also tried Star Bits, the fruit of the cosmos; but the Yoshis decided that it wasn't enough to classify as a "fruit," though they thanked her anyway, telling her that she could at least use her Star Bits in some of the fruity recipes. Princess Peach presented the varieties of berries throughout the Mushroom Kingdom and there were Sprixies that brought some of the best of the Double Cherries. Finally, the Yoshis, who had founded the festival, would always present their best fruit varieties such as melons, one of their all-time favorites, and the Heart Fruit that always made them super happy. Many times, different types of local fruit were combined in an experiment to see how they tasted together. The Fruit Festival was perhaps one of the biggest and most popular festivals of the year and had extended its fame all around the world. The high traffic and tourism never seriously bothered the Yoshis during the event, as it was all to share to everyone the unique types of fruit and fruit recipes and bring them all together to one place, and fruit always made them happy.

The Brothers went from station to station trying out the different fruit. Mario was surprised to see that one of the Isle Delfino officers that had arrested him from his visit was there with his wife's fruit salad recipe. The Bros had forgotten how refreshing Chuckola Cola was, and they had never bothered to try the Heart Fruit before. It was very sweet, whose flavor was extremely unique, and they couldn't compare it to anything else. Starlow and Cappy also gave the fruits and recipes a taste.

"I have always loved watermelons," Starlow said. "But to taste the Piantas' watermelon smoothies has opened my eyes to how much better they can taste!"

"I don't think I had ever tried a durian before," Cappy said.

"Yeah, durians taste okay, but the smell is totally vile! It looks like they needed a ton of air fresheners around that table to contain the stench!" Starlow added. "The Yoshis must really love their fruit to have such a bustling festival such as this." A few moments later, a Pianta approached them.

"Hey Mario, do you know where Princess Peach is?" he asked them. "Yoshi wants her and her father to come up and commemorate the festival."

"We can look for them," Cappy answered. They decided to first look back towards the warp pipe where they had arrived . . . and found her staring out at the ocean with her father at her side. The Brothers were a little surprised at themselves for having found her so quickly.

"Hey Princess," Cappy said to her. "Yoshi was looking for you. Are you okay?"

"Yes," she answered. "I'm just feeling a little preoccupied right now. I'm getting this really strange feeling that something bad is about to happen."

"But what could possibly go wrong in a place like Yoshi's Island?" the Bonneter asked.

"My thoughts exactly," the King said. "Come on, my dear Princess, the Yoshis look like they want us to address them. I can't imagine anything going wrong; I haven't observed anything suspicious from anyone there."

"Neither have I, father," Peach replied. "But I just can't get that thought out of my head."

At that moment, the group saw the warp pipe appear. And from it emerged the unmistakable form of Toadette. She strode over to them, almost skipping; a gay and excited look on her face.

"Hi guys! I'm sorry I'm late!" she addressed. "I'm not gonna miss the festival this year, though! Princess, Your Majesty." And she gave the royal figures a curtsey.

"Welcome Toadette!" the Mushroom King responded. "Are you all set for your recital?"

"Yep! I can't wait! I've been looking forward to this concert for years!" she said with zeal. "Well . . . technically the piano needs tuning, but that's too heavy to lug all the way to the concert site anyway. I'll look for a tuner after all the excitement."

"I've arranged to have a piano there, Toadette," Peach told her. "Don't you worry about that."

"Thanks, Princess," Toadette cheered. "Can we go to the festival now?"

"Absolutely," the King replied. "Come on, Peach. There's nothing to worry about. Everything's gonna be okay." The group then headed back toward the festival.

"Hi Starlow! You're looking as adorable as ever today!" Toadette addressed as they were walking.

"Why thank you, Toadette," Starlow responded, grinning. "So are you!" The two of them giggled.

The seven individuals made their way into the displays. Toadette went through several stations herself, trying the fruity concoctions. She tried a durian, but decided that it wasn't to her taste; she took a sip of Chuckola Cola and found it quite refreshing, so she took a full glass with her; after going through many tables, she decided that she liked the pineapples best. They finally made their way to the center where Yoshi was there to greet them.

"Princess, Your Majesty, where have you been? We were hoping you could commemorate the festival." Yoshi said to them as they approached.

"Oh, I was just feeling a little strange," Peach responded. "We'll be up in a moment."

Toadette then walked up to Yoshi.

"Hi Yoshi!" she said gleefully. "I'm so excited to be here! You guys really love your fruit, don't you?" On seeing Toadette, Yoshi's expression suddenly turned somewhat blank. He looked down at her, almost staring.

"Yoshi? . . . Yoshi, are you alright?" She received no response. This unusual behavior began to attract the attention of other Yoshis and guests around them.

"Yoshi please, what's wrong? Staring at me like that is starting to freak me o—_*urk*"_ And Toadette wasn't able to finish . . . as Yoshi suddenly _ate_ her!

Everyone around looked at Yoshi in horror at what they had just witnessed, including the other Yoshis!

"_TOADETTE!"_ Starlow shrieked.

"S . . . so . . . _delicious!"_ Yoshi was heard to mumble. His whole body was shaking violently. Something was very clearly wrong. ". . . b . . . best . . . mushroom . . . ever!"

"What would make Yoshi do something like that?!" Peach cried. "We can't let him go out into the kingdom like that." She looked at the Brothers. "It breaks my heart to say this, guys, but . . . you've gotta take him out! No more Toads are getting eaten today!"

It didn't take the Brothers long to do so.

As Yoshi lay defeated on the ground. The group gasped when they saw him transform before their eyes. In the next moment, they beheld the form of a pudgy toad-like creature. They heard its stomach growl loudly, and it suddenly regurgitated Toadette — the stress of battle having been too much for his stomach. Toadette gasped for breath; their friend was still alive, though covered in gastric juice. Her clothing having already begun to be digested. She passed out in the next moment from utter exhaustion. But before the party could go check on her, two more Yoshis pushed through the crowd and shocked everyone all the more when they also transformed into two more toad men. The pair went up to their comrade.

"Glip! What on earth were you thinking?!" they shouted angrily at him.

"Ugghhh . . . mu . . . mushroom . . . so . . . good . . ." the creature known as Glip muttered, still looking at Toadette.

"Are you saying your love of mushrooms blew our cover?" they snapped. "How could you let that happen? We're gonna have to report this to our Master, you know." With an eye roll, they turned their attention to the Brothers' group. "Now we're gonna have to settle for a direct method. Quick get him!" And they ran towards the group. Mario and Luigi quickly stepped in front of Peach, ready to fight.

"You're not taking Peach without a — wait, _'him'?"_ Starlow began.

And before any of them could retaliate, another toad creature sprayed the King from behind which caused him to pass out. And with surprising speed and efficiency, the four intruders took the King, and ran off, violently pushing aside anyone in their way and threatened to spray them as well if they retaliated.

"Father!" Peach cried. "Come back here, imposters!" She looked at the Brothers. "Mario, Luigi, follow them! I don't know what they plan to do, but I'm sure it's nothing good. And this time, I'm coming with you, too. I get the feeling that you're gonna need me this time."

"Wait, you want to go with them?" Starlow repeated.

"Starlow, I can take care of myself," Peach responded, holding Perry out in front of them as a reminder. "I've adventured with Mario several times, and once I even rescued him! This shouldn't be any different. Let's go!"

"In the meantime," the Yoshis added, "we'll care for Toadette. It seems that creature bit off more than he could chew . . . literally! Good luck, Princess!"


	4. Chapter 3

_I have been very eager to publish this story here, having seen how many views it has gotten so far. The only thing that has bugged me about this chapter was finding a good means of the Sapians interrogating the Mushroom King._

* * *

**Chapter 3**

So Mario, Luigi and the Princess all headed out to rescue the King while Starlow decided to stay behind to keep Toadette company once she had been taken care of. They traversed the village toward the looming shape of Yoshi's Peak. After exiting the pipe, they found that the toad men had destroyed the bridge that connected the pipe to the rest of the area. The gap was much too wide for the Brothers to jump across. Peach smiled.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Peach said. "I get to be of immediate assistance. Listen. These waters surrounding Yoshi's Island are filled with Cheep Chomps, so it's probably best to avoid swimming. But I can easily float across that gap to the other side. Mario, you'll need to give me a boost though. Cheep Chomps can still jump out of the water to try to eat me, so I need to be at a safe height. Ready?"

Mario gave her the boost she needed so that she was at least 15 feet above the water's surface. Sure enough, several Cheep Chomps jumped out of the water to swallow her. However, the Princess was much too high for them. In fact, she used one of them as a stepping stool to give her additional height. She landed safely on the other side.

"Now I just need to put together a makeshift boat to bring to the brothers to use." Peach commented. "Perry may be able to form himself into one, but it's only big enough for two. Hopefully I can find something that I can use."

As she explored the area, she found that the warp pipe that lead to the summit had been covered with large rocks that were much too big for any of them to move. They'd need to find another way to get up to Yoshi's Peak. She then remembered the kindling from the campfires that the Babies had extinguished in this area in the Past. Where had the wood come from? She looked around and saw at one end, there appeared to be a small metal section on the rockface with a spherical cavity.

"Hmm . . . a keyhole." she murmured. "Could there be a key around somewhere?"

Searching the area, she soon found a Keystone Gem inside a ?-Block. Upon returning, the rock fit solidly into the hole, and a hidden passageway opened up. Exploring the caverns, she reached an underground pool filled with broken ship parts. Several of them had been cannibalized significantly. However, she saw that there were several small boats that were in good condition and could easily accommodate four passengers.

"Bingo!" the Princess shouted, picking a boat that had oars. "This vessel is much too big for any normal Cheep Chomp to swallow." She maneuvered around the skeletal ship remains and out of the pool, the stream she followed eventually emptied into the open water through a well-concealed cave entrance. Now that she had a boat, the Cheep Chomps didn't try to catch her. Though they could very well have been able to capsize it, they are quite lazy by nature and prefer to go after victims that can be attacked directly, though they did protest by sometimes bumping into her vessel. Soon she was back at the broken bridge and paddled her way to the Brothers.

"Hop in!" she called. "It looks like the pipe that leads to the Peak has been blocked off. It'll take too long to clear it, so why don't we go around the island and try to find another way up?" The Brothers nodded in agreement.

After paddling for several minutes back in the direction that the Princess had come, the Island on the starboard side, Luigi suddenly shrieked in terror. They looked in the direction he was facing . . . and saw a giant dorsal fin approaching! Mario and Peach both gasped.

_**"MEGA CHEEP CHOMP!"**_ Peach screamed!

Being out in the open water, there was not much they could do. Before they knew it, everything went black as the great fish swallowed them, boat and all, in one big gulp!

After the initial shock, Peach finally tried to look around in the pitch blackness. There was water on the fleshy ground about knee deep, and she felt the wood from their boat bumping against her legs. Soon the Brothers came to and tried to look around.

"Oh . . . no . . ." Peach was heard to moan. "Is this really gonna be how it ends . . . as fish food?" She felt the large base of their boat upside down on the ground. She went up and sat on it, head in her hands. "I wish I could at least have some light."

Luigi's face suddenly brightened — not that anyone would have been able to see it. He held his hands out in front of himself and concentrated. It took a few moments, but they finally started glowing in a bluish-white light: his Thunderhand. Mario then remembered his ability and eventually got his Firebrand working as well. Peach lifted her head up upon seeing the sudden light source and smiled.

"You guys always think of everything!" she said. "I completely forgot about your hand powers." Then Peach suddenly remembered a book that her father had read to her as a child. She went over to Mario in excitement.

"Mario, do you think you can get several of these pieces of wood to burn and produce smoke?" she asked him. Mario nodded. "Then let's step on it! Hopefully Cheep Chomps will react in the same way as a whale." Scrounging about for pieces of their boat, Peach eventually put together a pile of kindling. It was sopping wet, but it wouldn't seriously matter since Mario could maintain his Firebrand for as long as he wanted. Mario concentrated on the pile while Luigi kept his Thunderhand going for additional light. It took about five minutes for the wood to start burning, though their oxygen was dwindling to the point where they were in an ever increasing danger of asphyxiation. Soon, smoke began to collect in the creature's stomach. Adrenaline rushing, Peach clapped in excitement, though she did start coughing herself from all the smoke. Soon, they felt the creature begin to move violently . . . the water sloshing turbulently. The fish suddenly heaved, and the trio was sent along with all the water and wood back up and out the giant Cheep Chomp's mouth like being shot out of a cannon. When they came to themselves yet again, they were on a sandy beach right at the bottom of the steep side of Yoshi's Peak.

"Yayy! We did it!" Peach cried. She ran over as best she could on the dry sand, which was made all the more difficult in high-heels, and gave the Brothers a trio hug. "Fortunately, that fish didn't wander too far away from the island. I'm surprised to see a Mega Cheep Chomp so close to shore. Usually they don't wander closer than a mile and a half or so." Peach then noticed the concealed cave entrance not far away from them, the one she had exited from after obtaining their boat.

"Do you suppose that we could reach the summit from that cave?" Peach speculated. "Let's give it a shot. Are you with me?" The two jumped as one in agreement.

They traversed the caverns for some time, but they did indeed reach the summit where they found a conglomeration of the toad people with the Mushroom King tied up within. The impostors appeared to be interrogating him. The three of them quietly stole behind a large boulder and eavesdropped on the ensuing exchange:

"You're not getting anything out of me!" the monarch shouted. "This is classified information you're talking about!"

"Listen, mister," they snapped. "Our Master has need of that treasure. You don't wanna mess with him, buddy!"

"Insolence!" the Mushroom King shouted in anger. "That's not the way to treat a royal figure!"

"Your royalty means nothing to us," the toads retorted. "You're just another puzzle piece in our Master's greatest scheme yet!"

"My daughter will certainly be on her way by now with the Mario Bros to stop you all in your tracks! You can bet your life on that!" the King announced with confidence. "There's nothing you can do to make me talk! Nothing, I say!"

"Don't be so sure about that," the leader of them said, who was wearing a brown bandanna. "Our Master has given us means to draw out all sorts of information. We know very well that we can't get you to talk just by demanding it, so we'll find a way to make you talk or simply leech out the information ourselves." His nearest comrade pulled out what looked like a headband.

"This is a mental stimulator," he said, holding it up for the King to see. "It can manipulate your nerves in all sorts of ways. If we can't find that memory of yours, we can simply create a mental strain that soon reaches a point in where you can no longer bear it anymore. I know this sort of thing has become so cliché, but what other choice do we have? This thing won't seriously hurt you physically or mentally, our Master made sure of that, but it'll certainly seem like it to you! Why don't we demonstrate it right now?" He reached up to hook it to the King's cranium.

_"NO!_ Don't you dare!" Peach suddenly cried. She ran out from behind the boulder and into their midst while Mario and Luigi followed right behind. The toad creatures were all startled except their leader, who seemed to have anticipated it.

"Princess! Brothers! You came just in time!" the King shouted relieved. He looked back at his captors. "You frogs are in trouble now!"

"Darn it!" one of them said. "I thought for sure that we had lost them, Crauput!"

"And we are not frogs," another one said. "You can call us the Sapians." The Princess chuckled.

"'Sapians'?" she repeated. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Don't blame us. Our Master gave us that name." the leader said, stepping forward. "Call me Hiki. I'm the one in charge of this group. Your father has valuable information that our Master needs, and we're not letting anything get in the way of that, even if it means fighting you colorful figures. Come on everyone! We have them outnumbered! Let's take them out and move on!" And they all stepped forward to battle.

Their assailants were an unusual bunch. They had long chameleon-like tongues like a Yoshi, which easily showed how they could impersonate them, but it appeared to also function like a chameleon's tail as an extra limb, as the Sapians were able to grab one of them with it and strong enough to hoist them into the air, though the heroes were too big for the creatures to hold in their mouths. But the trio soon took out all of their unusual adversaries. They looked down at the strange race of toad people sprawled on the ground and gasping.

"Uuggghh . . ." Hiki groaned. "You . . . you're all much stronger than you look . . . even you, Princess. Maybe I should have taken Master's warning more seriously."

"You guys tasted terrible, too!" the one identified as Crauput added. "When was the last time you guys showered?"

"Why does that matter?" another one said. "Even if they showered before coming, they would still have gotten sweaty from climbing the mountain."

"Oh quiet, all of you!" Hiki shouted. He managed to rise to his feet and tend to his captive. "We've gotta get out of here." He pulled out a com device and sent out an SOS. In a few seconds, the trio was stunned to behold a Dream Portal opening in their midst. "Everyone, jump in!" And in an effort to stall them, one of the Sapians pushed the Princess into the Brothers with his tongue knocking all three of them over.

"Peach!" the King cried out. "I'm counting on you, my dear! But please! Stay out of my study, okay?"

"Aw, shut up!" the toad snapped. He then gagged the King and jumped into the portal.

"NO! FATHER!" Peach cried. She ran at the portal, but was too late, as it closed right before she reached it. "Father . . ."

She fell to her knees on the grass and began to weep softly. Mario and Luigi walked over to her and put their arms around her.

"How shall I ever find him?" the Princess said through her tears.

But then, at that moment, she had a very sudden revelation. Her head perked upward in excitement.

"'. . . please stay out of my study . . .'" Peach repeated. "Could it be?" And wiping her face, she got up and faced the Brothers.

"Mario, Luigi, I believe my father was trying to tell me something," she began. The plumbers gave her their attention.

"When I was a girl, I had once gone into his private study. He usually locked it, but one day, he forgot to and didn't close it fully either, so I went in when I happened to pass by it, as curiosity was much too strong. One of the things that I saw in there was a chest with a bright orange gem on it. I managed to open it and see what was inside: an old parchment. It looked like it had been written centuries ago as there were strange characters on it that I had never seen before. Anyway, the King eventually caught me in there, and after I returned the parchment to its vessel, he sent me out. He had always been more careful to lock his study after that. But as I got older and more respectful of his privacy, his strictness of the room decreased. After cementing my position as a co-ruler, he was much more open to letting me in, as he didn't have to do any more government business in there. In fact, I get the feeling that he enjoyed spending some father-daughter time in front of the fireplace after that. The point is, I think he wants me to go back to his study and retrieve it for him. It wasn't a restriction, but a hint . . . and a warning.

"We should return to the Castle and take a look at it," the Princess concluded. "Whatever the treasure is that they're talking about, it must be super important, and that parchment must be our first paw print to finding it. Let's go, guys!" And as if on cue, a warp pipe suddenly appeared out of the wall to the right of them. The Bros clambered inside.

"Too bad we don't have a notebook to write this down in . . ." Peach chuckled to herself. And she too entered the pipe.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As the trio exited the pipe, they found themselves back at the same site where the Bros first arrived at Yoshi's Island. The three of them decided to check back briefly into Yoshi Village before returning to the castle. The festival had mostly returned to normal, as the Yoshis, Piantas, Nokis, Beanish, Sprixies, and all the other guests were back to making their fruit recipes. One of the Yoshis went up to the trio upon seeing them.

"Did you find the King?" he asked.

"We did," Peach answered. "But we were too late in getting him back. His captors escaped through a Dream Portal." The Yoshi's face fell. "Don't you worry. Mario, Luigi, and I are going to pursue them and rescue him."

"We'll be rooting for you!" said a nearby Noki.

"You always succeed! Never give up!" Rosalina added.

A few moments later, they saw Toadette running up to them with Starlow right behind.

"Welcome back!" she said cheerfully.

"Hey there, Kinopiko! You're looking chipper again." said Peach.

"I guess you can say I've recovered from my little digestion adventure," the Toad Brigade founder acknowledged. "I suppose I should consider myself fortunate. I had debated whether I wanted to relax in the Yoshi's Island Hot Spring after the main event, so I brought my swimsuit and a change of clothes along with me just in case . . . never realizing what I was soon to get into."

"Did you take a shower?" the Princess asked, sniffing the air. "You have a strong scent of lilac."

"Wow! Is it really that strong?" Toadette giggled. She lifted up an arm and sniffed. "Oh yeah, I guess so! So, are you guys off on another adventure?"

"We're on a mission to rescue my father from those toad people," Peach answered. "They're called the Sapians, and it appears that they took my father to the Dream World."

Toadette's eyes brightened at the prospect of a new adventure.

"Oh, that sounds like so much fun!" she said to them. And in that moment, Toadette felt needed; an abrupt surge of determination and importance suddenly welling up within her. "Princess, I wanna come with you guys! I have a feeling that I will be a big asset to you. Seriously! You're gonna need me! I'm really feeling it!" The Princess smiled.

"I admire your enthusiasm, Toadette." Peach replied gently.

"Please take me with you!" Toadette pleaded.

"At ease, girlfriend!" Peach assured her. "I know quite well how much you love adventuring, Toadette. After all, you're one of the founders of the Toad Brigade. You and Captain Toad have a lot of fun going out and exploring together, getting abducted by Wingo, and rescuing each other. And I could tell you enjoyed traveling with Mario when you came to rescue me from my own Castle not long ago . . . and _boy _was it a surprise for me to see that Peachette form of yours! You are more than welcome to tag along! I see no reason why you can't."

_"YAAYYY!"_ Toadette squealed. "Oh, thank you, Princess! You're not gonna regret this! I swear!"

"All right! All right! Don't lose your head!" Starlow said. "Why don't we have a little battle tutorial to help you release all that energy. Cappy!"

"I'm way ahead of ya, Starlow." The Bonneton replied. "Ready?"

"Alright," Starlow began. "Since **(A)**, **(B)**, and **(Y)**, are already taken, that leaves **(X)** for you, Toadette. Is that okay?"

"Uhhh . . ." Toadette muttered. "I don't really know what any of that means, but it doesn't matter to me either way."

"That's okay," the Sprite acknowledged. "This doesn't really aim towards you guys anyway. I've found that it seems to help, though I don't really know why. So that should be all of the commands: **(A)** for Mario, **(B)** for Luigi, **(Y)** for Peach, and **(X)** for Toadette." And after practicing, the quartet headed back toward the castle.

The four adventurers found themselves once again at the entrance to the Toadwood Forest. Traversing its paths, they were suddenly ambushed by a hoard of Bandits. They took Peach before she could act and carried her off into the plantlife. Mario, Luigi, and Toadette follow after them.

"At least it's not Bowser this time," Starlow commented.

The party navigated through the narrow forest paths (and more puzzles). On their way, they encountered a rundown shack. The door was locked, and there was a keyboard in front of it with all sorts of strange characters. Though they were curious to see what was inside, they realized that it wasn't important at the moment and continued on. Their wandering eventually brought them to what looked like a rundown lodge. There were large mushrooms growing around and on it. When they entered, they found the Bandits in the foyer with Peach tied up in the center. Seeing the heroes, they were startled that the group had found them, they grabbed the Princess and headed downstairs, locking the door behind them. Once Mario and company found a way to open the door, they descended the stairwell, and gasped in astonishment — it was a small group of Shroobs!

"Eeek! Shroobs!" Toadette yelped. "These were the aliens that attacked the Mushroom Kingdom of the Past! How did these ones survive?" There was an awkward moment as the two groups stared at each other, but the Shroobs quickly recovered from the shock and attacked, pulling out their blasters — the behavior that was all but typical of their race.

"Don't fret, Toadette!" Starlow assured her friend. "Mario and Luigi can handle these fiends! I've seen them do it before."

"Right!" Toadette responded. She valiantly stepped towards them along with the Bros. "But I wanna see what these aliens are made of, too!"

"Go get 'em, girl!" Starlow chuckled. And Toadette jumped into the fray with the plumbers. The Shroobs were easily defeated.

"Was that really all they could do?" Toadette thought aloud and scratching her pink mushroom cap. "For a hostile civilization like that, I would have expected them to put up a pretty hefty fight! But then again, I never was around to see the Princess Shroob Sisters, so I guess I really haven't seen anything. Anyway, now that they're out of the way, let's continue after those Bandits. I think they may have gone . . ."

"Ah . . . _CHOO!"_

"Gesundheit!" Toadette said impulsively. She suddenly started along with the others. That sneeze hadn't come from any of them.

"Who was that?" Starlow commented. "It sounded like it came from over there." She hovered over to a piece of machinery that appeared to be out of alignment with the others. The quartet went to it and moved it over. There they discovered yet another Shroob cowering behind it. Unlike the others, which were the standard purple color with light gray spots, this one was a medium blue with solid blue spots.

"Oh no! Not another one!" Toadette shouted. And yet, she couldn't help but notice that this particular Shroob appeared quite terrified.

"No, _please!_ Please don't hurt me! I'm not gonna fight you!" the alien shrieked. Everyone looked at him in utter shock. This Shroob knew human speech!

_"PLEASE! _Honest! I'm not fighting! Here!" he took out his Shroob blaster and tossed it over to them. Mario picked it up and examined it; he had never actually handled one before. "I only had this because my colleagues told me to keep one at all times."

Starlow looked over at Mario. "You're not really gonna take this creature at his word, are you?" she asked.

Mario was pondering: Every Shroob that they had ever encountered had always been so hostile that they would all attack them. He had never seen one try the false-sense-of-security betrayal shtick. In fact, he had never seen one hiding like this; the Shroobs were simply too aggressive for that. Luigi however was quicker in coming to this conclusion and said it aloud to everyone. The alien peered at the destroyers of his people, awaiting his fate. After tense moments, Mario approached the creature cowering against the wall, took him by his two-fingered hand, and brought him to his feet.

"Mario, you believe me, don't you?" the Shroob said fearfully. "Listen. I knew my peers and I were in trouble when I saw those Bandits come through here with your Princess. It was only a matter of time before you guys showed up. I didn't want to take any chances, so I hid, much to the annoyance of my colleagues. I was hoping that when you defeated the others, you would just go merrily on your way. And . . . I guess there was too much dust behind here, and . . . um . . . well, then this happened." The group exchanged looks.

"Hey, if it'll help you, I can assist you guys in getting Princess Peach back," the Shroob continued. "Those Bandits have been a nuisance to us, too, stealing tools and equipment and whatnot. Most of the time, we've been able to reclaim the stuff back, but just recently, they managed to steal one of our force field generators and now they've used it to protect their lair. The only weapons we have here are our blasters, and the force fields are impervious to them. However, we do have a safe-guard for our generator for just such an occasion, which can be used to override the force field. We programmed the generator so that it will not function when the safe-guard is within the area of its projection unless the safe-guard were inserted in its designated slot. If we can find that safe-guard, we can take out the force field and rescue Peach. We keep it locked up in a shack not too far from here. I can take you guys there to retrieve it if you want.

"Is this enough to convince you that I _want_ to help you guys?" he finished; there was a look of hopefulness, and desperation, in his eyes. "I'd have everything to lose if I tried to betray you. Who would want that?" It was only then that the Brothers noticed that this particular Shroob's eyes were green instead of red like the rest of his kind; maybe he was friendly after all. Mario walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Could I have assurance from all of you?" the alien asked. Luigi then walked over to the alien and shook his hand in turn. Toadette inched forward, still a little nervous as she had never encountered the Shroobs before, only knowing what she had been told or having read and didn't know what to expect.

"Come on," he encouraged, extending his hand invitingly to her. "Put 'er there, . . . uh . . . I don't think I have your name yet."

"Um . . . Toadette. I'm Toadette." She stuttered, finally connecting her hand with his.

"Nice to meet you, Toadette." The Shroob said politely. "You're quite pretty for your race. I like your braids." He tried to smile. Though quite nervous, Toadette still managed to giggle softly, flattered.

"And you . . ." the Shroob said, looking at Starlow. "You don't have any hand to shake."

"I'm Starlow," the Sprite answered. "I'm the de facto guide for these here Bros and the Star Sprites' ambassador for the Mushroom Kingdom. Sorry if I can't give any handshakes; that's just how it is with my kind."

"Well . . ." the Shroob thought. "What about —"

"No, I'm not ready to receive a hug from you," she interrupted. "Sorry."

"It's nice to reacquaint myself with you merciful Superstar Brothers of the Mushroom Kingdom," the Shroob said to them. "I wish my people could have understood what mercy and coexistence were. Anyway, let's go find that safe-guard and rescue Peach." And upon returning to the old shack with the keypad on it and again examining the characters, they realized that it was the Shroob alphabet.

"I suppose you guys had already passed this dilapidated structure on your way here," the Shroob mentioned. "Let me open it for you."

He typed out something and spoke into a receiver, perhaps it was his Shroob name. The door opened, and the group beheld a most unusual sight: A Bandit in a Cat Costume! It bolted on all fours as soon as the door opened and out into the plantlife, holding a small gadget in its paw.

"NO! How did the Bandits get in there?" the Shroob hollered. "And it was carrying the safe-guard device! Come on, we need to follow it!" And they do. They eventually cornered the Bandit in another part of the forest and defeated it. Not only did it drop the safe-guard, but it also dropped a Super Bell as well! Mario collected it.

"What's that?" Starlow asked. Mario showed her by putting it on and therefore turning into Cat Mario. Starlow witnessed the change in utter amazement.

_**"WOAH!"**_ Starlow exclaimed. "You can turn into a cat?! That's, like, the cutest thing ever! When did you ever have that ability?"

"Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and my big brother Toad all went to a place called the Sprixie Kingdom, where they found these Bells," Toadette told her. "I recently got to try it myself! It's super fun and adorable, too!"

"Sure sounds like it," the Shroob commented. "Anyway, we've got the safe-guard now. Let's go get Peach out of there."

Back at the lodge, their unexpected ally showed them the series of tunnels that the Bandits had leading to their lair, and they eventually reached the edge of the force field. The Shroob went to work setting up the device, and soon, he broke through, and the field disappeared. The Brothers darted in, and before they knew it, they were surrounded by Bandits. The plumbers used their newly acquired Super Bell to hasten the battle. In time all of them were down. They were now free to enter the main area and found the Princess tied to a chair. The knots were very untidy and messy, and Mario decided to just use his Firebrand to burn the ropes. It wasn't long before the Princess was liberated.

"Thank you, Mario. Thank you, Luigi." Peach said to them. ". . . as always, I might add."

Forgetting that the Princess hadn't yet met him, the Shroob walked in. Upon seeing him, Peach gasped.

"Oh no! Another Shroob!" she panicked. "Help!"

"Princess! I'm not gonna attack you. I'm unarmed anyway!" he said. Peach was also stunned to hear the alien address her in human language. "In fact, I helped them rescue you. Look!" He held out the safe-guard device as Mario and Luigi told her about their little meeting.

"A friendly Shroob?" she pondered. "Whodathunkit?"

"An honor to meet you. Really!" The Shroob said with a bow. He walked up to her and stretched out his hand. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out her hand and connected it with his.

"It . . . it's nice to meet you, too," she said back.

"Seriously, Princess! I have nothing to gain from betrayal," the alien added. "I'd end up just like my colleagues that the Bros defeated back there." Peach looked at the Brothers who nodded in affirmation.

"Well . . . welcome," she said at last. She again peered at the Brothers. "I . . . I'd still like to at least keep an eye on him."

"Peach, I promise you I won't disappoint you," the Shroob continued, trying as hard as he could to win her trust. "Where were you guys headed when those Bandits abducted you?"

"Back to my castle," she answered. "My father, the Mushroom King, has also been abducted . . . abducted by this strange race of creatures called the Sapians. We're gonna try to rescue him."

"May I come with you?" the Shroob asked as politely as he could. "Anywhere's better than here in this dump!"

The Princess continued to eye the fraternal duo, and they nodded yet again. "Mario and Luigi appear to trust you, and knowing how successful they have been, I should trust them myself." She hesitated. "Yes, you may come along, Mr. Shroob."

"Thank you so much!" he said gleefully. He gave her a two-handed handshake. "I promise you from the bottom of my heart that you will _not_ regret this! Let's get going everyone. Time to go rescue the Mushroom King!" And Peach couldn't help but chuckle at seeing the Shroob's enthusiasm.

"Princess Peach, could that perchance be Mario and Luigi I audiate?" came a vaguely familiar voice. The Bros turned to the sound. From another corner of the room came a walking suitcase. It had a big face on its bottom side, and a pair of legs that allowed it to walk over to them with, though no arms. Toadette's face brightened.

"Stuffwell!" she shouted. "You're the living suitcase that Professor E. Gadd invented, aren't you? I've heard a lot about you!"

"Correct," the suitcase replied. "And you must be Toadette." Toadette giggled, touched that it knew her when she had not even introduced herself. "Professor E. Gadd had programmed within me a plethora of all manners of data in regards to personal identification of most residents of the Mushroom Kingdom and the surrounding territorials."

"Oh yeah!" Peach remembered. "I almost forgot. I was surprised myself to suddenly encounter Stuffwell in here. I suspect that he may have been another one of the things that those Bandits had stolen."

"And in that particular manner of speaking, you would be entirely correct, Princess Peach," Stuffwell said. "The posterior time in which I had been activated, I found myself within the midst of this cave. I beheld Princess Peach looking down at me, and I postulated that it had been she who had gone to the trouble of reinstating me. In the ensuing minutes, she explicated about the past events, including the Mushroom King being kidnapped and how she and all the rest of you terminated at this very positional."

"He was covered with dust," Princess Peach added. "It appeared that the Bandits saw no reason to turn him on at all. Maybe doing so would bring about the danger of Stuffwell sending an alert to the Professor. After wiping him off, I activated him. When the Bandits returned and saw what had happened, they tied me to the chair while Stuffwell pretended to deactivate. It looks like they may have fallen for it, as they never did anything to him."

"He was also the suitcase that assisted the Brothers back when they defeated my people," the Shroob added. "I get the feeling that they would have been very interested in the genius of Professor E. Gadd as he was smart enough to be able to have that which you guys call Stuffwell actually tap into our technology and database and draw out information. I heard that he could also send you guys back in time to before the final battle with the Princesses."

"That is correct," the suitcase said. He looked over at the quartet. "Your party appears to be channeling many things behind you. My assistance would certainly alleviate you of your items and Coins."

"Of course!" Peach replied.

"Do Mario and Luigi necessitate a refreshment of my self-introductional?" Stuffwell asked. They shook their heads, as they still remembered the suitcase and how it worked. "Very well. BACK TO ADVENTURE!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As the party was heading through the Toadwood Forest and back towards the Castle, Starlow went over to Peach. "What sent you and the Brothers to the Sprixie Kingdom, Princess?" she asked.

"Bowser had another evil plan under his shell," Peach answered. "But Mario, Luigi, Toad and I stopped him . . . again! It became five as Princess Rosalina joined later on. We all put an end to it."

"Wait," Starlow said. "Bowser was up to no good again . . . with a scheme that _didn't_ involve kidnapping you?"

"I know. That was a _big_ first for all of us!" Peach went on. "It was a huge deviation from his normal routine. Instead of kidnapping me in an effort to take over the Mushroom Kingdom as he usually does, for some reason he turned his attention to the Sprixie Kingdom and kidnapped their Princesses instead. When he came out of that clear pipe, I thought maybe he might decide to kidnap me along with the green Sprixie Princess. I was quite surprised when he didn't. Seeing Bowser capture the Sprixie in that bottle and recalling the many times when I myself was in that same sort of situation, I was determined to go and stop him and quickly dove headfirst into the pipe in pursuit. The others entered right after me."

"In a bottle?" Starlow asked. "I seem to recall hearing about some elf in another land catching fairy-like creatures in bottles in just that fashion."

"Hmm . . ." Peach pondered in a slightly sarcastic tone. "I think I may know who you're referring to there."

"With so many adventures, I can't imagine what your biography would look like," said Starlow. "I'll bet it would take several volumes for each of you!"

"You can say that again!" Toadette complimented. "I wouldn't be surprised if it filled an entire bookshelf! Or a library!"

"Now that would be interesting," the Princess chuckled. "If we keep having so many adventures like this, 'The Super Mario Archives' could very well become a reality!" Everyone chuckled at the thought.

As they approached the Castle, Toadsworth came out to greet them.

"Princess Peach! Thank goodness you're alright," he breathed. "I heard reports of impostors at Yoshi's Island and feared the worst. What happened? And where's the King?" He finally took notice of their alien companion . . . and gasped in horror!

"Princess! What madness is this — to bring one of those horrible Shroobs into our midst? Are you insane?" And he tried to pull her away.

"Toadsworth, everything's fine!" Peach assured him. "_This_ Shroob is harmless and unarmed. He actually assisted the Bros in rescuing me from an ambush with Bandits back in the forest." Toadsworth looked at her in complete disbelief.

"You've _ALL_ been brainwashed!" he shrieked.

"Toadsworth please!" the Shroob implored. "I did _not_ brainwash them! I don't even have the technology to do that." And Toadsworth was perhaps more startled than any of the heroes had been in hearing the Shroob address him and understanding him. "If your Princess were brainwashed, she would have an antenna on her head and be speaking very unnaturally. Do you see any antennae on your friends' heads, Toadsworth? Do you hear anything blatantly unusual in their speech?" He tried to step towards him in a non-threatening way, but Toadsworth instinctively backed away in response.

"If it would make you feel any better," the alien continued. "You could have some of your guards come and search me for weapons or anything deemed suspicious. I assure you that they won't find anything. I've already given Mario my only weapon. No other Shroob would ever relinquish his arms like that. I am _NOT_ like the rest of my people!"

The Princess called two of her Mushroom Retainers to search the Shroob. Though utterly terrified, they approached anyway in as best of an attempt to follow their Princess' orders. Hoping to ease their conscience, she took the alien's arms and held them behind his back like a prisoner. The Toads finally mustered the strength to search him. They found nothing; no additional weapons, communicators or other equipment were to be found.

"H . . . h . . . he's . . . cl . . . clean . . ." they stuttered. But Toadsworth still did not appear to be all the more comforted by this.

"Toadsworth, this Shroob is under my care and observation," Peach told him. "I'll make absolutely sure that nothing bad happens. He can't summon any of his people because they're all gone, and we have his only weapon. I'll have a room put together for him so he can make himself at home, and I can even request that he stay there if you wish, keeping him on probation for your sake until he's found favor with everyone. Let's go find him a room." Toadsworth was still quite anxious and distrusting of their alien guest, but he moved aside anyway as she was the one with the authority.

"Th . . . this . . . way . . . Princess . . ." the head Mushroom Retainer stuttered. "I . . . I really . . . hope you . . . know what you're doing . . ."

"I promised the Princess she would not regret this. I make the same promise to you, Toadsworth, and to everyone here," the Shroob said as they walked in. He held out his two-fingered hand hoping for a handshake of assurance, but Toadsworth was simply too petrified. The elderly Toad moaned in despair and followed behind them.

The party followed the Princess up to her bedroom. She opened a drawer from her nightstand and pulled out a key. "After I was coronated, the King gave me a key to his study in case I wanted to do some government work in there. We agreed that if the door were fully closed, then that would mean the room was occupied. But even then, I haven't had to go in there too often. I haven't had to do quite as much paperwork as my dad had done." They soon reached the door to the King's study where she unlocked it and went inside, looking around nostalgically.

"This room hasn't changed a bit since I was a girl," Peach said.

They walked over to the bookshelf with the big chest on its center rack. The container was about 10 inches wide and 6 inches deep (25 cm by 15 cm). There was a plaque stuck to its front face, right underneath the big orange gem, with the word _TOADSTOOL,_ the royal family name, engraved on it. A classical-style mushroom pattern was carved right on the wooden lid. Peach took it and placed her thumb square on the gem. It glowed, there was a click, and the box was open. She carefully took out the ancient parchment and rolled it out for her friends to see. The sheet was about 2 and a half feet long (85 cm) and its characters appeared to be a blended series of lines, strokes, and dots. They were all amazed by how well preserved and intact it was . . . with the worst deterioration being only small nicks and worn edges.

"Those are some interesting characters," said Starlow. "I've never seen anything like it."

"So how are we gonna decipher this?" Toadette asked.

"I don't know," the Princess responded.

"May I take a peekage at the mystery font?" Stuffwell asked, emerging from Mario's back pocket. The Princess showed it to him for a few seconds. "That is sufficient. I have committed it to my databanks and am commencing some of my deciphering algorithms on it as we speak. I will inform you when I have compiled something."

"Thank you, Stuffwell," Peach said. "We'll look forward to it." Putting the ancient pell back in the chest, she decided to store the chest with Stuffwell for future reference, and to keep it away from their enemies.

"Okay," she began, "the next order of business is figuring out how we're gonna get into the Dream World and rescue my father. The way I see it, the only option we have is going to Pi'illo Island and talking to Prince Dreambert."

"I take it this is from another adventure of yours?" the Shroob inquired.

"Yes, it was," Peach answered. "When Luigi slept on one of the Pi'illo people, he could spawn Dream Portals."

"Really?" the Shroob said. "I never realized that that was possible. My people knew about the Dream World and Dream Portals, but we were never able to get there personally."

"Well maybe you can tell us more later," Peach responded. "We'd like to talk to Prince Dreambert first."

"I'll stay here at the castle," their alien friend told her. "It doesn't sound like you need me right now. Good luck!" He then left and headed to his living quarters.

"I'd like to get there as quickly as possible," Peach said. "I don't want to know what those Sapian creatures are doing to my father." She looked over at Cappy. "Do you mind if we use the Odyssey?"

"Not at all, Princess!" The Bonneton replied. "It's big enough for all of us. Let's go!" And in the next few minutes, the five of them made themselves comfortable inside the craft and headed off.

"This airship of yours is so cool, Mario!" Toadette complimented. "I don't think I'd ever gotten the opportunity to ride in it before. And to think I helped contribute some of its Power Moons! It's awesome!"

Soon they found themselves at the airship port on Pi'illo Island and were given permission to land. After touching down at the designated spot, the Pi'illos all hovered over to them.

"Mario! Luigi! Princess Peach! Welcome back, everyone!" they serenaded. For the next few minutes, the eight individuals (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadette, Starlow, Cappy, Perry, and Stuffwell) and the surrounding Pi'illos went around greeting and shaking hands, when and if able, with each other. After this was finished, the heroes' hosts continued: "It's so exciting to see you all again after what the Brothers had done for us! What brings you back to Pi'illo Island?"

"Another adventure," Peach answered. "Is Prince Dreambert around?"

"I wish we knew," they responded. The group looked surprised. "We've just now realized that he's missing." The Princess looked concerned.

"I think there's a connection here, everyone," Peach said. "My father has been kidnapped by a race of toad-like creatures called the Sapians, and they have access to the Dream World. We were hoping that Dreambert could assist us in entering so we could continue our pursuit."

"Hmm . . . that does sound like it could be related," the Pi'illos replied. "Especially since he has strong ties to you guys and with Luigi being able to spawn Dream Portals and all. Why don't we all head over to Pi'illo Castle and go over everything." And reaching the castle, the party found about a dozen more Pi'illos awaiting to greet them all upon hearing about their arrival on the Island, including Eldream and Bedsmith.

"Welcome back, everyone!" Eldream said. "Your timing could not have been more perfect."

"It's pretty typical, I must say." Peach told him. "Though it often feels like we always arrive just a skosh _late._ Despite that, we have always put the situation right in the end."

"You guys are going to need a Pi'illo to assist you in entering the Dream World in place of Prince Dreambert," the elder Pi'illo explained. He faced the crowd. "Is there anyone who would like to volunteer?"

"I!" came a response. The crowd shifted aside, and the group saw a young Pi'illo much like the rest of them that was dressed in a deep green hover over to them. "I'd like to help them, Eldream!"

"Ah, Youmie!" Eldream said. "You look much better today!"

"Thank you, sir," the Pi'illo acknowledged. He turned to face the four heroes. "I had been under the weather with a modest case of dreamiado. But I've gotten over it now and am ready to help you in any way I can."

"That's good to hear," the Princess said. "I don't think I've seen you before. Were you one of the Pi'illos that the Bros freed?"

"No," he answered. "Mario and Luigi managed to free 53 Pi'illos including Dreambert, but there were many more that they weren't able to get to. But by that time, there were enough of us that had been revived so that we could figure out a way to start freeing the others ourselves. I was one of those second-wave members that were liberated. My name is Henry Nickenschlaf, but everyone calls me 'Youmie.'"

"That's quite a surname you've got there!" Toadette commented. "Is it German?"

"I think so," The Pi'illo replied. "Though I don't really know where it came from."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Youmie," Peach said. "Now why don't we figure out what happened to Dreambert? When was the last time you saw him?"

"I don't think he ever left the castle, Peach," one of the Pi'illos said. "Do you guys remember that room that you freed him from petrification in with the bed and all our old artifacts . . . the room with the Dreampoint? He might have been in that room, and had gone into the Dream World to do something — maybe to just relax and meditate on current affairs, or something like that. Why don't you try searching there?"

"Sounds reasonable," the Princess responded. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!" And soon Luigi was positioned on the bed with Youmie as his Pi'illo pillow. The Dream Portal opened in an instant.

"Oh, I've always wanted to see what the Dream World is like!" Toadette said ecstatically. "Can I come?" Mario nodded.

"Be careful in there, both of you," Peach told them. "If Dreambert is missing, then there might be something in there. Keep your eyes open. In the meantime, Starlow and I will stay out here." And Mario and Toadette jumped into the Portal.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The moment the Marionettes stepped into the Dream World, they could see that something was wrong. There appeared to be a rip in the fabric of the dimension; and whatever it was, it also appeared to be preventing Dreamy Luigi from spawning and accompanying them. In front of this rip was a bright red cape. Mario went over and picked it up.

"Is that Dreambert's?" Toadette commented. Mario nodded. "What could have happened to him? . . . I guess the only thing we can thing to do is to go inside that rip and look for him. Let's go!"

The rip seemed like a portal to another portion of the Dream World, as the environment within was nothing like that at Pi'illo Castle. They traversed several areas and finally came across . . .

"NO! It's Bowser's Elite Trio!" Toadette shouted. "Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk! And they've got Dreambert! He looks like he's out for the count. What on earth did they do to him?"

"Oh no! It's Mario! He found us!" Private Goomp shouted. "And he's got one of his Toad friends joining him! That's kind of surprising . . . Toads are complete wimps!"

"Are you calling me a coward?!" Toadette shouted. "Come on, Mario! We've gotta catch these brutes and rescue Prince Dreambert! I want at 'em!"

"Yeah right! Catch us if you can!" Corporal Paraplonk shouted as they darted off. Mario and Toadette followed in pursuit. The Elite Trio passed through a gate in the next room, shutting it on their pursuers. The two heroes stopped at it.

"It looks like this gate is the only way onward. How are we gonna get the Prince?" Toadette speculated. Suddenly, she had an idea. "Hey Mario, if you can perform that drill move with Luigi, you can surely do it with me, too! I don't think it needs two hammers to perform. Let's give it a shot! Jump on up!" Mario took out his hammer and did so. And soon, they found themselves on the other side, having traversed several isolated areas, as they had drilled straight down.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Toadette shouted. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that even my braids assisted in the drilling action! Do we make a good team or what?" Mario gave her a high-five in response.

Continuing their pursuit, they soon reached a dead end and saw the Elite Trio surrounding the Pi'illo leader. The three officials appeared to be waiting for someone.

"It's Mario again!" Sergeant Guy said, turning in their direction. "He made it all the way to the rendezvous! What are we gonna do now?"

"You know, we could always fight them," Private Goomp replied.

"And get embarrassed for the umpteenth time?!" Corporal Paraplonk added. "I'll pass!"

"Do we need to win?" Private Goomp continued. "Those creatures should be here soon. If we can just stall Mario and his friend for a bit, then those weirdos can take that Pillow Guy and our mission will be successful."

"Are you perchance referring to the Sapians when you say that, Mr. Goomba?" Toadette asked him.

"That's none of your business!" snapped Corporal Paraplonk.

"Well, we're MAKING it our business, you pesky, paltry, Patapata plebe!" Toadette shouted. "We know you three are working with those hideous Sapians!" The officers all looked appalled.

"Ooo! You're gonna pay for that, _Kinopiko!"_ Private Goomp retorted. "CHAAARRGE!" And the three officials darted at them, though the battle didn't take long. Soon all three of them were on the ground.

"Like I said . . ." Corporal Paraplonk gasped. "For the umpteenth time! Maybe I am still just a plebe!"

"Ugh, where are those frogs?" Sergeant Guy muttered.

"They should've been here by now," Private Goomp said. "They should've been here before any of this could happen . . ." The two adventurers walked by them to check on Dreambert; Toadette with her arms crossed.

"Humph! You guys are pathetic!" she sneered. "Serves you right to mess with us!" The two knelt by the Pi'illo's side and saw that he was still conked.

"Prince Dreambert?" Toadette said. She reached out and took his hand. "Are you okay, buddy?" There was no response. "Maybe we should take him back to the Real World and have him checked out." And taking the Pi'illo over his shoulder, Mario headed back to the Portal with Toadette and back to Pi'illo Castle. The Pi'illos all crowd around their Prince. Dreambert was still completely unresponsive which worried everyone quite a bit. Eldream stepped forward.

"I want to thank you both for bringing Prince Dreambert back to us. Your nobility is without question," Eldream told them. "It looks like our Prince is under a case of Neru. It's a condition that affects our kind and is much like a coma. As you guys can probably see by now, it is strong enough to render Dreambert quite helpless so that Bowser's officials could carry him off. It does eventually wear off, but it would take a very long time. Fortunately, there is a very simple remedy to this condition. We have developed a serum called kankimine that can quickly reverse its effects . . ." But as Eldream was talking, one of the Pi'illos darted into the room.

"Eldream! All of our kankimine vials have disappeared!" he shouted. "It's as though someone knew about this and is trying to prevent it!"

"My, my, _**who**_ could it have been? . . ." Peach speculated rhetorically and sarcastically. "Eldream, what's the recipe for this serum so that we can make more?"

"All of the ingredients can be found in Somnom Woods," Eldream answered. "Several of them are flowers: the Drowsy Daisy, the Rouse Rose, and the Muster Marigold. There's also the Focus Fungus, the Wake Woad and some Sprang Springwater. Don't worry about how long it will take to make it, though. Some do take a long time, but not this one. In fact, this is probably one of the quickest recipes to make."

"I've seen all of those flowers whenever I take a walk through the forest," Bedsmith told them. "They're all located north of my place in one of its murkier parts. I would suggest that only those of you that are resistant to poison should go."

"That would be me and Toadette," the Princess spoke up. "Don't worry about me, Mario. I'll be okay. You guys can guard Dreambert." She went over and gave Mario a hug of assurance and headed off.

It was then that Luigi suddenly realized that she hadn't given him one. He called out to her, but by then she was too far away to hear. So he tried to catch up to her before she had traveled far, but slipped on Dreambert's cape that was still on the floor and fell on his face. He began to moan in neglect. However, all this commotion caught Toadette's attention, and, putting the pieces together, she returned to Luigi and with a giggle gave him a hug of assurance in the Princess' stead.

"Hey . . . Luigi . . . You're not forgotten," she said. "I'd say she's just in a hurry to help Prince Dreambert and didn't realize that you wanted a hug, too. You're just as important to her as Mario. Think about the time when you rescued both her _and _Mario from the Last Resort!" At the mention of this, Luigi appeared to calm down a bit. "We'll be back. I promise!"

Inside the forest, Bedsmith showed them the path leading to the eastern marsh area. He looked surprised. "These bushes have grown a ton since I was last here!" he marveled. "They're practically trees now! How do you suppose we get through?"

"Hey guys!" came the voice of Perry. Peach pulled him out so he could stand on his own in front of them. "Let me try hacking through it, Princess! You used me to smash rocks, so slicing shrubbery shouldn't be all that much different, right?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt to try," the Princess murmured. However, after a few hacks, though Perry was just fine, they found that the bushes were much tougher than they thought, and it would take much too long to get through using this method.

But as they were trying to think of other options, Toadette suddenly spoke up. "Hey Princess! I have an idea! When I went through the Dream World with Mario earlier, we formed a drill. Do you suppose that you and I could use a similar technique?" Peach thought about this for a few moments.

"Come on! It'll be fun! Hop on!" Toadette cheered. "Bedsmith, you might want to stand back." Peach did so, and before she knew it, they were spinning like a top. In this form, they minced the thick shrubbery like a knife through butter . . . like scissors on tissue paper. Bedsmith watching them all the while.

"Very impressive!" he praised them. "I never thought a princess like you could be so resourceful! You should name it."

"Ooo! I know!" Toadette cried. "The WeedWacker!"

"Haha! How appropriate!" Peach chuckled. "And you were right! It _was _fun! Let's get going! Dreambert needs our help!"

The eastern marsh appeared to be even murkier that Bedsmith had anticipated. But that didn't stop Peach or Toadette from carrying out their objective. With the aid of their newly-discovered WeedWacker ability, they collected the three flower ingredients with little difficulty. They were also able to find the Wake Woad. With four of the ingredients gathered, they returned to Bedsmith's place for further instructions.

The last two ingredients, the Sprang Springwater and the Focus Fungus, were located in another part of Somnom Woods called the Coma Caverns. "From what I've heard from a few Pi'illos, there's some sort of beast that's down there feeding off of this fungus, even to the point of cultivating it," Bedsmith warned them. "Those that managed to get some of it were too traumatized by their experience to remember what it looked like. I'd suggest that you be careful."

At this point, Toadette was quite glad to have brought her Toad Brigade headlamp, as the caverns were quite dark and dank. They found the Sprang Spring very early on and collected about half a gallon (1.9 liters) of it in a bottle. Toadette was also quite pleased with herself for having also brought her new Pickaxe with her, as she got to do a little mining as well. It seemed very strange when she ended up mining coins and items from the cavern walls. They also mined a handful of green, pointed crystals that seemed oddly familiar.

Eventually, they reached a much larger chamber and saw, at the other end, countless bio-luminescent mushrooms.

"This must be the place!" Peach said softly.

It was an unfortunate remark, as, although she spoke softly, it was enough to be heard by the chamber's main resident. It stomped in from an adjoining room and caught the scent of Peach's perfume. Now aware of their presence, the creature looked threatened. It was obvious that it didn't liked guests, and preferred to be alone with his mushrooms. Toadette increased the intensity of her headlamp so they could get a better look at it.

It was a big, fat, Mega Mole! Its fur was a dull gray-brown and appeared to be completely blind, as it didn't seem to react to the increased intensity of Toadette's headlamp. Later on, when they would go to Dire Dire Docks, they would learn from several Monty Moles that this individual was known as Chorro the Chubby and had always had a severely aloof and aggressive nature. Chorro seemed to be able to tell that these intruders were a much more severe threat than most that had come before and was determined to take them out as quickly as possible. His attacks were formidable for his size and physique, but the two adventurers emerged victorious. They then gathered about half a dozen of the mushrooms and headed back to Pi'illo Castle.

Meanwhile, the Brothers continued to attend to Prince Dreambert, who was still very much asleep and didn't show any signs of life besides breathing. In their waiting, Mario figured he might spend the time to learn a little more about the Pi'illos.

"How long have we had the Stones before Antasma showed up?" Eldream repeated. "At least a millennium, that's for sure. The Zeekeeper tells us that he witnessed them both fall from the heavens long before we showed up, landing at about this very location, and quickly learned about their powers. Not even we know how long he's been here. He never went into detail, but he said he encountered a terrible power all that time ago that fought him for the Stones. He matured a lot after that, and dedicated his life to guarding them. We believe he used the Stones only once more after that to extend his lifetime so he could always be there to protect them.

"When our first settlers came here," Eldream continued, "the Zeekeeper noticed that the Stones were attracted to us. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that they'd drawn us to this Island in the first place. To avoid scaring us off, the Zeekeeper waited until we had established ourselves before introducing himself to us, and we soon developed our relationship to him as you can plainly see. However, he refrained from telling us about the Stones until he got to know us a little more . . . _and _when he found out that many of us were dreaming about them. He first showed them to the leader of the colony, and soon, we had Pi'illo Castle built. Time passed, and we too became guardians of the Stones, as they became a part of our culture. Antasma eventually came to be and caused the events that you witnessed, and reversed, on your first visit here. We can never thank you enough."

"It sounds like you have quite a legacy behind you," Starlow commented.

And after Mario had gone into detail about some of his past escapades, Peach and Toadette returned from their trek. They pulled out all their ingredients from within Stuffwell and presented them to Eldream.

"You have done well, both of you," he commended. "Youmie, go show the Brothers where the storage room is. All the brewing supplies are down there."

Taking Dreambert with them, Youmie and the fraternal duo made their way to the Castle's storage room. At one end of the chamber was a counter-top with some simple brewing equipment. Youmie went over to the stove directly adjacent to it, took the Springwater and got it simmering.

"You might say that this serum is created just like that for a cup of tea . . . or . . . Ooo! I know! Like boiling spaghetti noodles!" Mario and Luigi both chuckled at this.

Soon the serum was ready.

"Alright!" Youmie cried, filling a small vile with the concoction. "Let's . . ."

"Hold it right there!" came a sudden shout from seemingly nowhere. Mario and Luigi looked toward the direction of the sound to find a Dream Portal open up just beyond them. Three Sapians emerged, and appeared to be wearing small Bowser shells. "You guys aren't embarrassing us that easily!"

"Golly! You guys are ugly!" Youmie said. "Mario, are these the toad men you were referring to?"

"You bet we are!" they shouted. "We are the Sapians, and we aren't gonna allow you guys to screw up our kidnapping on a fluke! You guys were _super_ lucky to arrive at Pi'illo Island when you did: at the exact time of the act. We arrived at our rendezvous point to find those three Koopa Troop officials having been beaten up by you guys."

"Were you guys gonna use Dreambert as a sort of ransom?" Youmie asked them. "Whatever for?"

"We'd tell you, 'That's none of your business,'" they said, "but we're pretty sure that you guys already know the answer."

"To bar off access to the Dream World?" Youmie guessed.

"Correctamundo!" one of them said. "Our Master knows all about you and your many adventures, Mario. He knows that Luigi can spawn Dream Portals, and cutting off access to the Dream World would be an ideal way to keep you out of his hair! He made us these great shells for us to wear; we can even hide inside them like those NokNok minions of his. We're sure that this time, things won't be so east for you! Yes, I was one of those operatives that you fought on Yoshi's Peak, the one called Crauput. Anyway, that's enough talking. We've got some new tricks up our sleeves this time. Let's do this!"

The shells made things much tougher for the Mario Brothers. Whenever it was the Bros' turn, the creatures retracted into their shells, making it impossible for Mario and Luigi to hurt them. The shells were also impervious to fire and thunder. But after many, many hits, the Bros managed to shatter the shells using their hammers, and the battle ended soon after.

"What does it take to beat you guys?" Crauput moaned.

Youmie could finally administer the serum to his leader, and after a few seconds, Dreambert was revived.

"Ugh . . . what happened?" he mumbled.

"My Prince! You're awake!" Youmie shouted gleefully.

"Is that you, Youmie?" Dreambert said. He got up and took a look around. Upon seeing Mario and Luigi and the outcome of the battle, he went over to them.

"Mario! Luigi! It is good to see you again," Dreambert addressed. "What are those things? Did they attack you?" The Bros explained the situation.

"'Sapians' . . . an interesting name," the Prince commented. At that moment, the three toad men arose to their feet, looking at the Bros with antipathy.

"This is only a minor setback!" Crauput declared. "We'll see to it that our Master succeeds, and when he does, you will all be doomed! _Doomed,_ I say! He'll destroy you all!" And with that, he and his operatives jumped back into the Portal and disappeared.

"Whoever these creatures' Master is, he's a threat not just to the Dream World, but to the Real World, too," Dreambert stated.

Mario continued with their story.

"I see," the Pi'illo said softly. "So the Mushroom King appears to be a part of this Master's plan, too. He appears to be a danger to all of us, and I assume you guys are going out to stop him, and the two of you will certainly need one of us for Luigi to sleep on to open a Dream Portal. Youmie, would you like to go with them?"

"Dreambert," Youmie replied. "I don't want you to be put in danger by staying on Pi'illo Island where those creatures can try to kidnap you again. Going with Mario and Luigi yourself will make it much, much harder for that to happen, and we all will be at ease knowing that you are in safe hands. I am more dispensable than you are; how about I go do some searching in the Dream World for any information on where the Mushroom King might be and report to you guys later."

"If that is your wish, Youmie," Dreambert said. He turned to the Bros. "It is an honor to work with the two of you again. To be perfectly honest, I myself am getting a bad feeling about what this Master of those creatures is up to. Let us return to your Princess' Castle and come up with an attack plan." And the four of them head back to prepare.

**XXXXXX**

"So, whatever the Master of these creatures is up to, it could be a threat to us in addition to the Mushroom Kingdom," Dreambert told the crowd of Pi'illos. "And Mario and Luigi are going to need a means to travel into the Dream World in order to free their King. Therefore, I plan to come with them for that purpose. His Majesty shall be freed soon enough."

"Good luck, Prince Dreambert!" one of the Pi'illos called to him. "We know you'll be safe with them!"

"And I plan to go investigate in the Dream World to see where the Mushroom King might be," Youmie added. "There are lots of civilizations throughout the Dream World in addition to us that might have a clue to his whereabouts."

"We shouldn't delay any more," Dreambert said. "Let us be off in your giant flying hat."

"It's called the Odyssey, Dreambert," Peach clarified. "It's an airship made by Cappy's people."

"It looks like a hot air balloon," one of the Pi'illos said.

"I suppose so," Peach admitted. "But it is very efficient. It's got hundreds of Power Moons collected from all over the world. Toadette and I have both contributed to them, too."

"Farewell, Princess Peach!" the Pi'illos cried. And soon the great airship was off to Peach's Castle.

"So what was the last thing you remember before the Brothers revived you, Dreambert?" Peach asked the Pi'illo.

"Well, I had told a few Pi'illos in the castle that I was going to go to the Dream World to do some meditating. Dreamy Pi'illo Castle is usually reserved for higher ranking officials, and it is always a quiet place in where I could relax and think about what was transpiring on the island. So I was there in the Dream World, deep in thought, when suddenly, I felt a disturbance. I looked to see a large hole appear in its fabric like a large curtain being ripped in two. I went over to investigate, when from within, a whitish spray came forth, and I began to feel woozy. Before I passed out, I got a glimpse of the operatives that you call the Elite Trio. The rest is simple to deduce: they took me back through the dimensional rip, where they would most likely have sent me into the custody of those Sapians. Youmie told me that this was all planned to be a ransom to inundate the island with their kind and cut off Mario's access to the Dream World.

"As always, you came at the right time and put a stop to that," Dreambert finished. "Fate has been kind to us today." He looked at Peach. "Now do you have any idea what kind of treasure these creatures want out of your father?"

"Not particularly," Peach answered. "There are several legendary treasures out in the Mushroom Kingdom. But the only one that I can think of at the moment would have to be the Star Rod. It is said that the rod fell from the sky one day from the stars — maybe even from another planet in another galaxy. It was soon discovered by the Star Spirits and they found that it could grant wishes and give the one who wielded it great power. I think I have associated with someone that had wielded it at one point. I can't remember who, though."

"Did you say Star Spirits?" Starlow chimed in. "They're quite familiar to my kind. Everyone is always getting their people and mine confused. Star _Spirit_ vs Star _Sprite_, sometimes it drives me up the wall."

"That does sound like it might get annoying," Peach commented. "Well, I remember when the Paper universe emerged from that Storybook, I had talked to my Paper counterpart when we were in both Bowsers' custody, and she mentioned to me that there is a Star Rod in her 2D universe with the same ability. She also told me that there had been one time when Paper Bowser had stolen it from the Paper Star Spirits in Star Haven, as it wasn't granting any of his wishes, then used it to kidnap her by completely ripping out the entire Castle from its foundation and send it to the sky on his own Castle."

"And Paper Mario went to her rescue, right?" Toadette added.

"Of course!" Peach confirmed. "Oh, by the way, one of the Toads in the 2D Kingdom also has the nickname Kinopiko like you."

"Really?" Toadette asked intriguingly.

"Her name is Vanna T," Peach told her. "And she's a lot like you."

"That's so cool!" said Toadette. "Maybe, if I ever get to go into that Storybook and see what it's like, I might try to search her out and say hello!"

"We can worry about that when the time comes," Peach said.

Suddenly Luigi let out a shriek. Scrambling to the window to look, they saw Bowser's Koopa Cruiser coming to intercept them and were suddenly jostled as the Odyssey was hit by a Bullet Bill. Mario went out to the balcony of the ship and saw Bowser in his Clown Car paralleling them.

"Did I hear you guys mention a Star Rod?" he called out to him. "So you've already figured it out, huh? I'm impressed! But I'll make sure that I get there first! Shoot 'em down!" Mario looked over at the Cruiser to see to his horror a Banzai Bill approaching. He darted back inside and warned everyone.

"Hit the deck!" Peach screamed. And in a matter of seconds, the group felt the sickening feeling of freefall as the Odyssey plummeted from the sky.


	8. Chapter 7

_In recognition of AlphaDream going bankrupt last week, I plan on inserting significant references to their RPG _"Tomato Adventure - トマトアドベンチャー"_ that was released only in Japan for the GameBoy Advance. I have been itching to post this particular chapter, as it contains what I feel to be one of my funniest gimmick ideas!_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Toadette was the first to recover from their wipeout, as she was the most resilient. Lifting her head, she found herself facedown on the beach.

"Blech! Sand in the mouth!" she gagged. She tried to spit out as much of the sand as she could.

"_*Ah-choo* _Sand in the nose!" she snorted. "I wish I had a tissue!" After finally getting her sinuses clear and brushing herself off, she took a look at the surrounding area.

The Odyssey was badly damaged, and Power Moons were scattered across the beach. She saw some of her friends also wiped out in the sand, and walked over as best she could to Dreambert, who was nearest to her. It was extremely hard to do so, as the sand was quite dry, and kept shifting from under her feet and made all the more difficult with her short legs.

"Dreambert?" she said when she reached him. She helped him up to his feet. The Pi'illo turned to face her.

"Ugh . . . I'm okay, Toadette. Where are the others?"

"They should be around," Toadette responded. "But the more imperative matter is that the Odyssey's shot!"

"Toadette, it's not shot!" came the voice of Cappy. He hovered over to them. "It just needs repairing. The Power Moons can easily return it to its former glory, but it looks like we're gonna need to get a new Harnessphere, as our present one is _definitely_ shot. The Harnessphere was the one storing the energy from all of the Power Moons. It was that glass globe on the roof of the cabin. Without it, we can't _harness_ the power of the Moons, hence the name."

"So where are we gonna get a replacement Harnessphere, Cappy?" Toadette asked him.

"I'm not sure about that," he answered, shaking his head. By this time, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach had all recovered and walked over to them.

"That was quite the monkey wrench he threw at us!" Peach said. "Are you guys alright?"

"Yes," Dreambert said. "Do you know where we are, Princess?"

"Well, I believe we should be somewhere near Dire Dire Docks. It's a major shipping port on the Mushroom Kingdom's southern coast. That was also the theme of one of the paintings that Mario had explored at the Castle, too. If we head east, we should hit it." They then saw Stuffwell walking over to them, though he, too, was having difficulty walking in the dry sand.

"Indeed, that is quite correct, Princess," he said. "By my calculations, it is positioned at a distance of approximately 6 miles and 3528 feet, from our present location."

"I think 6 and a half miles is enough, Stuffwell," Peach said to him. "Well, let's get moving . . . after cleaning the place up first."

And after they gathered all of the Power Moons together in a big pile next to the Odyssey, they eventually headed inland to find a small town just on the edge of nearby Boo Woods named Trembleton. Despite the name, the place seemed quite peaceful and relaxing. They replenished their supplies and spoke with a few of the Toads there, though they were quite surprised to encounter none other than Goombella.

"Omigosh! You're Princess Peach, right?" she said.

"Yes, I am," the Princess replied. "You must be Goombella . . . that archeology student from the University of Goom, aren't you?"

"How do you guys know that?" Goombella asked, slightly shocked.

"Well," Peach began, "we're familiar with a _Paper_ counterpart of you. A counterpart that had assisted Paper Mario on one of his adventures."

"You mean the Paper counterpart of _this_ guy?" she said, looking in the plumber's direction. She studied his features. "He does look kinda cute with that moustache. Totally looks like the sort of person I could get to like and hang out with."

"What brings you here to Trembleton, Goombella?" Peach asked.

"I'm visiting my cousin, Christibo. We hadn't seen each other in, like, forever! So, we scheduled a time to meet and go over all the crazy stuff that's gone on since we last saw each other. It's great to see her again! What are you guys up to?"

"We're on our way to Dire Dire Docks," Peach told her. "Our airship has been damaged, and we need to get it repaired."

"Hey, there's a warp pipe not too far away from here that can take you directly downtown," Goombella told them. "That's how I got here, since I came in from Dire Dire Docks. Anyway, Christibo and I have reserved a table at this local restaurant she's told me about. Catch you guys later!" And the young Goomba walked away.

"It almost looked like she was starting to develop an instant crush on you, Mario." Peach commented. "I could see it in her eyes." Toadette looked at Mario and giggled at the thought. "Let's head over to the Docks and see what we can find." And they soon found the pipe at the far end of town and entered it.

Dire Dire Docks was quite a bustling seaport. There were a host of pedestrians of all different races passing through: Goombas, Koopas, Piantas, Buzzy Beetles, Tostarenans, Beanish, Dry Bones, Gao, Boos, Bob-ombs, Nimbi, Sprixies, Clefts, Volbonans, and a slew of others in addition to the hosting Toads. They walked through town chatting with some of the pedestrians and natives.

They had a significant encounter with a pair of pedestrians named DeMille and Patharan: a young couple from the Ketchup Kingdom that had traveled to the Mushroom Kingdom to watch the eclipse. DeMille had heard about Mario and his adventures and recalled an adventure that he had some time ago that resulted in overthrowing his country's old ruler to rescue Patharan, who at that time was his girlfriend. He had a friend back in his home town named Salem who was fascinated with their Bros attacks, which he consistently called "Gimmicks," and asked for a demonstration so he could tell his friend in detail. In return, DeMille gave them one of his own "Gimmicks" for them to use in their quest, as he didn't need it anymore, calling it the "Gimmick Gear." Impressed with his heroism, Peach invited DeMille and Patharan to her festival back at Toad Town, who readily accepted after they found that very few of the dishes that Peach had planned contained tomatoes.

After parting ways with their new friends, they found, to their delight, a shop called _Bonneters' Airship Service__,_ and it looked like it had just opened. There were several small airships undergoing maintenance behind the main building.

"Hey guys! Take a load of this! It's Mario and Cappy!" the Bonneters in the shop suddenly shouted. "Hey! Over here!" The party approached them. Cappy assumed his real form and hovered over.

"Well! I didn't think I'd see any of you guys way out here!" Cappy said to them.

"I know! We just opened this place last week!" they replied. "Seeing how popular airship travel is becoming, we thought we might start a chain of repair and replacement shops for them. Our airships are probably some of the best out there right now, and who else would be most appropriate to repair them than us Bonneters? I'm sure there are other talented airship mechanics out there, too. We just want to be able to extend our personal service and knowledge around to make it more convenient."

"This makes things easier for us," Cappy continued. "We got shot down from the sky by Bowser, and out Harnessphere is shot. Do you have any?"

"Not yet," they said. "At least none of the common models yet. They're being shipped as we speak. However, we did receive an early order for the _latest_ Harnessphere model: the Cirrus 2020. It's supposed to be the most durable and efficient model out there and should be compatible with the Odyssey. It's just that the SRP is a whopping 10,000 coins. You'd have to save up for it."

"Goodness! That _is_ expensive!" Cappy said. "We _could_ save up for it, but you see, we are kind of on a time crunch. Bowser appears to be up to a new scheme. We'll come back when we've got the funds, okay?"

"We're rooting for you!" the Bonnetons called out to them. "We get the feeling that something's gonna come up, and you'll have all the Coins in no time! Seriously!"

The party continued to walk down the streets of Dire Dire Docks discussing how they might be able to earn all the Coins in such a short period of time.

"We don't have anything, or enough of something, of particular value that we could sell," Starlow mentioned. ". . . except perhaps Peach's Crown — but that's obviously out of the question."

"Perish the thought, indeed," Peach said. "It's been in my family for many generations. Don't worry, everyone. We'll think of something."

Continuing down one particular alley, they were suddenly ambushed and sprayed by a large group of Snifits. After a brief fit of violent coughing, they all collapsed unconscious while the Snifits carried them all away.

They eventually came to themselves to find that they were in a small room contained within what looked like an old, abandoned warehouse. There was hardly any light, and they tried to look around before Mario and Luigi finally brought some light using their hand abilities like candles. The small room was now dimly lit.

"Where are we?" Toadette muttered, rubbing her head.

They walked out of the small room into the main chamber of the warehouse. There, they thought they could make out a colorful, decorative theater stage and seats. It suddenly occurred to them that most of the seats were _occupied._ In the next moment, a bright spotlight shone on one end of the arena to reveal a Snifit in a bowtie. Was this supposed to be some sort of gameshow? At the sight of the Snifit, Luigi suddenly shrieked in terror.

"And here they are!" the Snifit announced. "Ladies and gentlebuddies! Please welcome our contestants for another exciting round of:

"_**SNIFIT . . . OR . . . WHIFFIT!"**_

_Mario & Luigi Edition_

"'Snifit or Whiffit'?" Peach muttered. "Never heard of . . . Luigi! Where are you going?" The group quickly grabbed Luigi before he could bolt out of the room. Luigi started to ramble on about how they might not come out of there alive. Paper Mario had told him about the _Seabed Edition,_ which had a giant Urchin that could pop Paper Mario's bubble causing him to drown.

"I'm your host, Snifit!" their host addressed the crowd. "I must admit, I have been _LOVING_ this wonderful gameshow introduced to us by our Paper counterparts! I can't believe we had never thought of this ourselves! How many of you agree with me?" The crowd gave him a standing ovation in response.

"We have a wonderful party of very special guests on our show today. Give it up for the Superstar of the Mushroom Kingdom: Super Mario!" Mario stepped up to the center of the stage and waved to the wild crowd.

"Next up is the kid brother Costar of the Mushroom Kingdom: uh . . . Green 'Stache!" Luigi stamped the ground in annoyance.

"Third, the fair ruler of this great Kingdom. Give it up for Her Highness: Princess Peach! Aka, Toadstool!" The Princess went up and curtseyed.

"And finally, we have perhaps the greatest girl-Toad explorer and inventive genius out there, as well as a founding member of the Toad Brigade: Toadette! Aka, Kinopiko!" The mentioning of "inventive genius" made Toadette blush, and she too stepped forward and curtseyed. The crowd was still clapping and cheering wildly.

"We've got a lot of great ideas planned for you guys to show off your form, your skill, _and_ your brains! Give 'em something to cheer about, and you can win big money and awesome prizes! In fact, our grand prize is 10,000 coins and a secret bonus! Judging by the behavior of Greenie out there, it appears that you guys already know our terms and conditions. Are you guys ready to get started?"

Peach looked at the others. "10,000? . . . That's enough to purchase the Harnessphere! Whatever they have coming our way, I'm sure we're up to the challenge. Who's with me?" She laid her hand down for the others to follow. Mario, Luigi, and Toadette all laid theirs down in turn, though Luigi did hesitate. "Awesome! Let's kick some gameshow butt!"

The minutes passed as the heroes showed off their skills to the crowd. There were four checkpoints: 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000. Each section contained different aspects of either their abilities or trivia. And all the time, the Snifits kept a poisonous fog on the ground, giving them only a certain amount of time to complete the challenge before they passed out from it. They eventually cleared all four rounds.

"Congratulations!" their Snifit host said. "You guys are real champs! Look at the crowd out there! They're going wild for you! I'd say you've given them a good show, don't you think? It can only be made better if you can but pass our grand finale, but you guys are free to walk away now if you want."

"We'd like to continue," Toadette told him. "Whatever it is, we're sure we can handle it!"

"I love your attitude there, Toadette!" the host responded. "Just remember: we're not liable for anything that might happen. This is a _monster_ of a challenge! Are you guys sure you're ready?"

"We're prepared," Starlow said.

"Then let's play! Ladies and gentlebuddies! Our brave contestants have decided to go for our ultimate challenge! Bring it in!" And the group soon found themselves staring into the face of a large Wiggler. It was the most unusual Wiggler that they had ever seen — it was a light blue color, but turned a deep purple when enraged. It also had spikes on its segments, making it all the harder to attack, as they needed to turn all the segments back to normal before they could attack the head, which was apparently not spiked. "If you can take this thing down, the grand prize is yours! You are free to use healing items in this round, as I'm sure it will take some time to subdue. Good luck, everyone!"

Going into the battle, it became even stranger. First, they found that hitting the segments did not change them back to its normal color, and yet they still couldn't damage the head when it was enraged. Second, they found that these segments could separate themselves from the rest and act on their own. Was this creature some sort of colony? They found that they could eventually eliminate each segment leaving the head which finally calmed down allowing them to start attacking it. The battle was made all the more difficult by the usual poison gas produced by the Snifits.

But soon, the quartet did finally bring it down. The crowd went absolutely wild at this. By this time, the crowd was no longer composed of just Snifits, there were a variety of other races that had come to watch the show as well, though Snifits still made up the majority. Even the Snifit host appeared to be on the edge of his seat.

"Zoo wee mama! That was perhaps the greatest performance I've ever seen!" he shouted. "Everyone, give it up for our Superstar team!" And as the crowd went nuts, Mario and company all waved to them. "These whippersnappers have definitely earned our grand prize, folks! Thank you all for coming, and I hope to see you again on the next exciting round of: _SNIFIT . . . OR . . . WHIFFIT!"_

And suddenly, a trapdoor opened up from below, and the quartet fell into the basement. There they found a big chest filled with their prize money and . . . the party gasped in astonishment. It was King Boo's Crown! How the Snifits got a hold of it none of them knew, but if this was the secret bonus, they'd might as well take advantage of it.

"Honestly! That was perhaps the most exciting game of _Snifit or Whiffit_ I've ever seen, guys!" their Snifit host said, entering the room. "I can hardly believe you _are_ Superstars! Please, claim your prizes, and I hope you will come back to play on our show again sometime! I'm sure that everyone at Dire Dire Docks will want to attend it next time! We hope that whenever you guys do come back, you'll have some new stuff to show us."

"You're very kind for a Snifit," Peach said to him. "We'll put it into consideration. Right now, we have some pressing matters to attend to."

"Such as putting a dent in Bowser's plans?" he said matter-of-factly. "Oh, don't be surprised. It's always the most pressing matter for you guys. Most of us Snifits here at Dire Dire Docks aren't part of Bowser's Koopa Troop, so we thought maybe you guys would have need of this wonderful work of art to help you fight him."

"Wait," Starlow said. "Did you guys _plan_ all of this?"

"Yeah, those were some of my unpaid interns that went and abducted you, I admit," their host replied. "But hey! Nothing bad happened! You all came out okay! Anyway, you can return to the street from that Pipe over there. We hope to see you again!"

The group then went through and eventually made their way back to the Bonnetons' repair shop where they told them about their gameshow adventure and their prize money.

"Awesome!" they exclaimed. "Like we said, we had a sinking feeling you were going to find something. Pleasure doing business with you guys! This Harnessphere model should be much more capable of withstanding attacks from Bowser in the future. We had taken into account all that we had seen from your adventure around the world in the Odyssey to stop Bowser's wedding. We think even that great Ruined Dragon will have a tough time breaking through this one. Good luck, everyone!"

"Thank you all," Peach said to them. "I hope you have a successful and profitable business. We'll see you around."

The group was soon back at the crash site. But as they came into view of it, they saw to their despair that many of their Power Moons on the ground were gone. As they approached, they caught a glimpse of a small group of Boos carrying away some of them.

"Aw, come on!" Starlow cried. "How will we fix the Odyssey now?"

"With so many Power Moons taken," Cappy said, "we may not be able to fully restore the Odyssey. We've gotta follow those Boos, everyone! Come on!" They followed the trail to Trembleton, where they saw the thieves retreating into Boo Woods. Luigi suddenly began crying.

"Come on, Luigi!" Starlow said. "Don't be such a baby! You can do this! I've seen you tackle way scarier things before, and Mario here told me that you've taken down the super-scary and powerful King Boo a grand total of _three times!_ That doesn't even include the time when I watched you two fight him back in Gloomy Woods. This should be a piece of cake!" Despite the Star Sprite's advocation, Luigi was still shivering.

"Were those your Power Moons those Boos took?" came the voice of Goombella, who walked up to them. "I saw a whole slew of Boos not too long ago taking them earlier after Christibo and I returned from dinner. I think they were all headed for Boo Woods. You're gonna need some serious guts to go into a place like that! I hear it's, like, reeeeeeealy spooky! Keep following them and maybe you'll see who's behind it."

"Thanks, Goombella," Starlow told her. "We're more than prepared to wander woods like these. I've gone through a scary forest before with the Brothers, so I know what to expect."

So they head into Boo Woods, forcing Luigi inside in the process. The air was dank, and even worse, the sun was setting, and there was very little light that could shine through the leaves on the trees to begin with. It wasn't yet pitch black, but it still made them feel uncomfortable. In an attempt to overcome this, Mario and Luigi both used their hand powers to give the party some light, Mario using his to light torches on their way. At one point, he happened to look up to see some sort of silhouette high in the sky, but Mario couldn't make out what it was, and simply continued with the rest of the group, though he kept the thought with him in case it became important. They encountered many ghosts along their way, some were peaceful while others were hostile like Boos. After wandering down a few pathways, they reached a rocky dead end.

"Hmm . . ." Peach murmured. Where do you suppose we go now? I don't ever remember seeing any other paths on our way here." She felt around the rocky wall and, pushing aside an adjoining bush, she saw a very small tunnel hardly a foot in diameter on the ground.

"I wonder if this leads anywhere," Peach speculated. "The problem is, it's much too small for any of us to fit through." She thought about it for a few moments. "Too small for any of us . . . except . . ." She then looked over at the smallest member of the group, who slowly inched backwards in response.

"Uh, nuh-uh! I am _not _going in there!" Starlow protested. "What if it's all wet and slimy with cobwebs and spiders all over the walls?"

"Starlow, what else are we going to do?" Toadette tried to explain.

"You can't make me!" Starlow announced, and she turned around so as to flee. Mario looked at Cappy and threw him at the Star Sprite, and in the next moment . . .

Luigi and Toadette both burst out in hysterical laughter. Even Peach giggled. Starlow now sported Mario's cap and moustache — the plumber had captured her!

"Ugh! What happened? Why can't I move?" the Star Sprite found herself saying. Though conscious, she was now no longer in control of her own body. She took notice of the Cha-Cha Chasers laughing their heads off and rolling on the ground. Mario turned her around so as to see.

"What's so funny?" she asked. Giggling, Peach pulled out a small mirror from within Stuffwell and showed her her reflection. Starlow squealed in horror.

_**"EEEEKK!**_ MARIO! LET ME GO!" she screamed, but to no avail.

"This is awesome, Mario!" Cappy cried. "We captured Starlow! Ready to see what's in that tunnel?" Starlow started shrieking in terror, but Cappy quickly subdued her consciousness so that she wouldn't have to experience it personally.

"Okay . . . that suddenly seemed kind of scary," Peach commented.

"Second that!" Toadette added, having gotten over her laughing fit. "Good luck, Mario!"

As the tunnel was so small, Mario found that he had to get Starlow to walk it; not a problem for him as he had captured his fair share of Goombas. Fortunately, there were no enemies inside the claustrophobic tunnel complex, though he did encounter some in the small chambers. Mario eventually came across a series of switches on the ground. After pressing them in the proper order, he felt a tremor under his feet and knew that something had happened. He then returned to the rest of the group.

"Hey, Mario's back!" Toadette called out. "This cavern opened up while you were down there. Was that you?" Mario exited the Star Sprite and confirmed upon seeing the new passageway. He looked back to see that Starlow was now under the post-capture dizzy spell like many other creatures that Mario captured.

"D . . . don . . . don't ever do that again!" Starlow managed to say as she regained her senses. "How indignant!"

"The cave wasn't slimy at all, Starlow," Cappy told her. "I think you were just being paranoid." Starlow scowled at him.

"Please, let's not bicker," Peach said. "We have our way forward, so let's just keep moving." Starlow put it aside grudgingly and continued. And yet, after traversing more areas, they again encountered small tunnel openings on the rocky wall face.

"No! Not again! No! NOOO!" Starlow shrieked. But it was too late.

Finally, after all of the paths had been discovered and mapped, they reached a large clearing. There were a series of six stone pillars arranged in a hexagon in the center of it. It was now fully nighttime with the Moon in a waning gibbous phase visible in the east above the treetops; early morning hours. The solar eclipse was slowly approaching, and they wondered if they would be able to resolve this conflict with the Sapians and with Bowser in time for the big event. The party walked over to the arrangement of pillars, and Mario used his Firebrand to light the torches that adorned the top of each of them. The area was now lit warmly by their light. The air seemed strangely still, and the environment felt uncomfortably quiet.

"Eeheeheehee! You found me!" came a chilling voice from directly in front of them! Luigi shrieked in terror. From the nothingness came the shape of King Boo! "You are all a formidable bunch to be able to make it all the way here! Quite impressive!"

"Were you waiting for us?" Peach asked.

"You might say that," the ghost monarch answered her.

"So you have something to do with all those Boos taking our Power Moons, don't you?" the Princess continued. King Boo raised his ghostly arms, bringing forth dozens upon dozens of Boos from all sides of the clearing each holding a Power Moon or two.

"Ah, yes! Of course!" he said with zeal. "It _was_ I who orchestrated it all! But I know what you're thinking: You want them back. But why should I hand them over? You see, there's something I want back, too. Yeah, I'm looking at _you,_ Baby Luigi!" And Luigi began crying.

"What a big baby!" King Boo laughed. "And yet . . . how could such a crybaby as he be able to defeat such an awesome power as I _three separate times?_ It doesn't make any sense!"

He continued: "I'm willing to offer a ransom to you guys. Knowing how successful and resourceful you guys have always been, I am _ghostly_ certain, heh-heh, that you can pull it off! Luigi, you know what I'm talking about: my wonderful Bejeweled Crown! This piece of tin that I've have to use doesn't even begin to show my real personality. I hate having to look like a plain old Big Boo! That Crown has always made me feel truly like the King of Boos! If you guys can find it, I _might_ give you back your silly old Power Moons. Now step on it! I've got bystanders to scare and subjects to attend to!" With the ghost's terms in their minds, they huddled together to discuss their options.

"Well? What's the holdup?" King Boo barked after a minute or two. "Do you guys want your Power Moons or not?" In response, Mario took out the Crown and held it up for the phantasma to see. And in an interesting reversal of roles, the King of Boos himself was scared stiff.

"NO WAY! You already have it?!" he said in a state of shock. Pulling himself together, he continued. "It appears I have seriously understated how resourceful you guys were. Quickly!" Suddenly, the Crown was snatched out of Mario's hands by a concealed Boo who brought it to his master. King Boo laughed out loud at their misfortune.

"You all are so gullible!" he sneered, staring at them with antipathy, absurdly pleased. "And blind, too! Heh! Not like you can do anything about that! Yeah, I'll bet you knew that was coming, too! Such a classic betrayal, I know; but that's the way it has to be for us villains! With this Crown back in my possession, I can assemble an army of Ghosts and Boos and send you guys into submission and become my servants! Farewell!"

But at that very moment, right before King Boo could put the Crown on, there was a sudden flash of blindingly bright light from above them. The surrounding Boos all dropped their Moons and scattered in fear of the light. King Boo, however, had not been so fortunate, having been knocked out by it, and the party looked up to see Bowser and Bowser Jr descending in their Clown Cars, cackling menacingly at the spectacle. There was a large, powerful searchlight connected to Bowser's Clown Car focused down into the clearing. They took King Boo's Crown from the ground and ascended again.

"We got it, Papa!" Bowser Jr shouted gleefully.

"Good work, Junior!" Bowser shouted back. "I can't believe how easy that was! Thanks for giving us the heads-up, missy! Why don't you go slow 'em down for us!" And as father and son left in their vehicles, the quartet looked up to see the menacing silhouette of Wingo descending down into their midst — the bright jewel on her feather-topped turban glowing in the dim light of the stone pillar torches.

"Seriously! Wingo?!" Toadette cried in anger. "Were you following us this whole time?" The great bird gave her a chuckle in response. Wingo's beady eyes focused on Toadette menacingly as though she were considering snatching her right then and carrying her away in her talons.

"Dear me, she's bigger than I thought," Peach said.

"Wait, Toadette. You know this Roc?" Starlow asked.

"Like, yeah!" Toadette answered ferociously. "She's carried Captain Toad and me off quite a number of times. She likes shiny things. She must have seen us with King Boo's Crown and decided to inform Bowser of it. Why would she? Does she know what Bowser is up to?" And at that moment, Mario recalled the black shape that he had seen in the sky earlier, and now was quite aware of who it was. He explained it to Toadette, whose eyes seemed to burn all the more.

"Well that settles it!" she said, aflame with determination. "Let's show this giant chicken what we're made of! Show me some drumstick, Wingo!" And they all charged at her.

Wingo was a magic-type foe, and they found that she was significantly weak against thunder. They found that the Magicroc's sheer size made it impossible to jump on her head. They decided to go for the stomach, and after some time, they managed to get her to fall over onto her stomach using a lateral attack at her legs, giving them the opportunity to wail on her head, which also happened to be a critical spot that was also weak against fire. They soon subdued the giant bird, who gave them a screech such as though she were telling them, "You'll never succeed, you fools!" and flew off. Toadette looked quite satisfied.

"Well . . . that felt _awesome!"_ Toadette said triumphantly. "I had never really gotten a good opportunity to give that mega pigeon a piece of my mind. With that pack I had carried with me on my adventures with Captain Toad, I wasn't able to jump, and could never give her a head stomping like I was able to do now! Serves her right!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Peach commented. "Unfortunately, Bowser got away with King Boo's Crown. What do you suppose he wanted with it anyway?" As this question lingered in their minds, a Warp Pipe opened up at the other side of the clearing.

"That Pipe looks like it may be our way out of this place," the Princess said to them, walking toward it. "I think Luigi would really appreciate getting out of this spooky forest. Let's go back and fix the Odyssey." She entered the Pipe with the rest following close behind. The Pipe came out at another end of Trembleton, not too far from where they entered the forest.

"Does anybody have any idea on where Bowser plans to head next?" Peach asked as they approached their crash site. "He certainly appears to be up to something . . ." Mario again remembered what Bowser had said to them before they were shot down, then told it to the Princess.

"I see. So Bowser was listening in to our conversation," she said, "and it sounds like he thought we were heading over to get the Star Rod and wanted us out of his way. I guess that's where we'll need to go next. Any objections?" Everyone remained silent in response.

"Where is the Star Rod usually kept, Princess?" Dreambert asked her.

"Up on Star Hill," she answered. "Perhaps the Star Spirits can tell us what's going on. Is everyone ready?"

The Odyssey was soon repaired with the new Harnessphere in place, and with all the Power Moons back inside it. Everyone clambered inside and made themselves comfortable. In the next few minutes, the Odyssey was once again airborne and headed for Star Hill.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The quartet had not gotten a lot of sleep, as they had spent much of the night traveling through Boo Woods. And there wouldn't get much time to rest in the Odyssey either, as it would take hardly 15 minutes or so to reach Star Hill. Hopefully they could get some sleep after that.

With a yawn, Toadette looked over to see Prince Dreambert at the window; his mind appeared preoccupied. She walked over to him.

"What's the matter, Dreambert?" she asked after another yawn.

"I am getting a really bad feeling about what Bowser is doing," the Pi'illo answered. "While it seems nonsensical, the Dream Stone and the Dark Stone have been flashing through my mind lately as though they are both about to appear intact again."

"I remember hearing all about what happened on Pi'illo Island," said Toadette. "Mario and Luigi took care of everything like they always do!"

"Indeed," affirmed Dreambert. "Antasma is gone for good, and we shall be forever grateful to them for their heroism. But I have recently been feeling uneasy about the exact fate of both of the Stones."

"I can't see how anyone could possibly find all those Coins that had made up the Zeekeeper's Dream Coin," Toadette responded, yawning deeply. "There must have been millions and millions of them! And before that, Mario and Luigi both broke up all of the nightmare chunks that you and your people had been trapped in. I think both of the Stones have been put out of anyone's grasp now."

"I certainly hope so, Toadette," the Prince said. "And yet . . . that is the point. It is only a _hope._ I can never be absolutely certain that they are indeed rendered impossible to find."

"Well, even if they do somehow manage to show up," Toadette assured the Pi'illo, "you can bet your life that good ol' Mario and Luigi will do whatever it takes to put things right in the end! You've seen how resourceful they are! No worries, Dreambert, everything's gonna turn out just fine! Just you watch!"

In time, the party found itself at the entrance to Star Hill, and it didn't look pretty. Bowser had apparently gone on a full-scale bombing of the place as there were carbon marks all over the ground from possibly Bob-ombs or Bullet Bills. Ahead, they saw the Star Gate; its face appeared quite solemn. They all approached it.

"Mario, Luigi, it's good to see you guys again after all this time," the Gate said to them.

"Did Bowser do this to you?" Peach asked it.

"Indeed," the Gate responded. "Bowser has taken the Star Rod."

"We're aware of that," Toadette added. "Bowser had shot us down earlier. He thought we were going after it ourselves."

"I guess you can say we stopped by to see what had happened," said Starlow. "We thought maybe we could get some information from the Star Spirits on what's going on."

"You are a Star _Sprite,_ aren't you?" the Star Gate said to her. "Your people are also a race of guardians."

"We are," Starlow replied. "And it gets pretty annoying when people confuse our identity for yours . . . though to be frank, even I've slipped every now and then."

"I have gotten that," it replied. "Anyway, I shall not hold you guys up with a long test of merit. First off, I already know that the Mario Brothers are worthy: a worthiness that has not changes for decades, I might add. Princess Peach, as the only one living today who can awaken the Beanstar, you are certainly worthy to enter. I can also sense great nobility from all the rest of you: Toadette, you have experienced many hardships not only on your journeys with Captain Toad, but also having traveled with Mario himself; I can see even more noble actions from you in your future. You, Prince Dreambert, are the head of the guardian race of Pi'illos and have also assisted Mario on his adventures. For all of you, your nobility is without question and are all worthy to travel with Mario — especially in a time like this. You are all free to enter. I know that you will bring the Star Rod back to us. Good luck, everyone!" And the Star Gate opened itself for them to pass.

It was quite apparent to them as they walked through that things were much worse than they thought, as they encountered a sight that made Prince Dreambert's face go pale in terror.

"NO! It _can't_ be!" he cried.

There before them was a large purple rock with many facets. Dreambert went up to it in a near fit of rage and banged his fist into it, temporarily forgetting about how he had been petrified in the first place. Fortunately for him, it didn't appear to have any effect on him. His heart skipped a beat as he suddenly came to his senses and let out a small sigh of relief.

"I must try to control myself," he muttered. "What if I _had _been petrified upon touching it?" He turned to Mario. "Can you come over here and break this chunk with your hammer?"

Mario did so. When the nightmare chunk shattered, they saw that the one concealed inside was one of the Star Spirits: Eldstar. After a few moments, the Spirit noticed Mario and his friends and went over to them.

"Mario! You saved me!" he said. "Thank you!"

"Are you one of the Star Spirits?" Dreambert asked him.

"Yes, I am Eldstar," he answered. "You are a Pi'illo, aren't you?"

"Indeed, I am Prince Dreambert, the head of my people," the Pi'illo responded. "It appears that you had been trapped by the same means that my people had: the Dark Stone." The Star Spirit appeared concerned by this.

"The Dark Stone?" he repeated. "How is this possible? It had been shattered long ago."

"I, too, am at a loss at this," Dreambert said. "But it is undeniable that this was a nightmare chunk that you had been entombed in."

"I take it that the other Spirits have also been trapped in the same manner," Eldstar postulated.

"Pretty sure," Peach spoke up. "But don't worry, Eldstar. We can free them all easily in the same way we did you. Got any ideas on where they are?"

"I would assume that they would be scattered around Star Hill," he responded. "I'll head back to the Shrine while you guys go explore the area, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," Peach said.

Soon, the party found them all — Mamar, Misstar, Kelvar, Kalmar, Muskular, and Skolar were all freed from the nightmare chunks and met up with Eldstar at the Star Shrine . . . and in a way in where only one particular member of the party could reach, whether it be the Brothers with their hand abilities, Peach with Perry, or Toadette with her speed. With all seven of the Star Spirits freed, they then met up with them at the Shrine and consulted them on the past events.

"We were all attacked unawares, and before we knew it, the Star Rod was gone!" Misstar said to them. "I think it might have been one of those Banzai Bills of his."

"We were all flung away like shooting stars," added Kelvar. "And before we could figure out what had just happened, we were shot by something and frozen solid."

"I think we can all visualize what he did to you guys," Peach told them. "It's pretty typical of his style."

"With the Star Rod," Kalmar told them, "he can do pretty much whatever he wants."

"I think it's more than just the Star Rod, everyone," said Eldstar. "Our guests have informed us that he has also taken King Boo's Crown and the Dark Stone as well." The Star Spirits began to talk amongst themselves.

"He couldn't be . . ." Mamar shuddered. "Could he?"

"There can be no other explanation," Muskular murmured.

"Indeed," said Skolar. "He'd have to collect them all."

"What are you guys talking about?" Starlow asked them. "He'd have to collect what?" The Star Spirits all positioned themselves in a circle around the party.

"You are a Star Sprite, Starlow," stated Misstar. "Your people know about this."

"I'm not all that familiar with all the lore as of yet," Starlow answered them. "I'm still young and haven't quite learned everything."

"That is understandable," Kelvar told her. "We have reason to believe that Bowser is going after a group of entities known as the 'Legendary Seven.'" Starlow thought about this for a few moments.

"Actually," she muttered, "that sounds kind of familiar . . . like I had heard it once before. I don't think I really picked up on it back then. Aren't they supposed to be some collaboration of powerful forces?"

"Yes," Eldstar confirmed. "The Legendary Seven are indeed a group of forces — perhaps even sentient beings — that each contain and grant great power. Their origin is unknown, but it is said that they had emerged from the creation of the universe and had drifted through the cosmos for eons. They can take on many physical forms, so even if its physicality were destroyed, they can still exist as a sentience essence and eventually form a new shape. The danger of these articles is that, if in the wrong hands, it could create chaos as they will grant the wielder unimaginable power regardless of his moral standing. Good or evil, they will satisfy every wish."

"That's how it was in the Paper Mushroom Kingdom with the Paper Star Rod," Peach told them. "Bowser was mad that the Paper Star Spirits were rejecting all his wishes, so he went and took the Rod by force so he could grant his wishes himself."

"There's more to the Legendary, Peach," Kalmar continued. "While the Seven do have a majority override (that is, if someone has made a wish on one of them, someone else could negate it using two or more), if one manages to obtain all seven of them, there _is_ no override. This will make that individual completely unstoppable — perfectly immortal! Not even all of you would be able to stand up to them. With all seven, they could actually control everything from leveling a city to shattering planets to exploding stars. They could control everything in existence without opposition. In the wrong hands, this could mean the end of the universe as we know it!"

"Oh dear!" Toadette exclaimed. "Would Bowser really do that?"

"Who knows," Peach replied. "We've never had anything like that happen. The closest thing would probably be when he inhaled the Dream Stone and became Dreamy Bowser."

"It seems that you guys are already familiar with several of the Legendary," said Skolar. "In addition to the Dream Stone, the Dark Stone, the Star Rod, and King Boo's Crown; the three others are the Beanstar, the Toadstool Gem, and the Chinstar."

"Toadstool Gem?" Peach repeated. "Could _that_ be the treasure that those Sapians were trying to get from my father?"

"The last we heard, it was in the possession of, and named after, the Toadstool Regime," Muskular told her. "You _are_ the latest member of the Toadstool Regine, Peach."

"I'd been looking forward to it for all of my childhood!" Peach said matter-of-factly.

"And your father never told you about the Gem?"

"No," she said. "I think he was going to tell me when he died, so I guess I haven't . . . until now, that is. He'd been kidnapped by these creatures called the Sapians, and he subtly conveyed the information to me hoping that I would find it before they did." She went to Stuffwell and retrieved the ancient parchment. "I believe that the message written here will point us to the Gem, wherever it is."

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to help you," Kelvar said solemnly after studying its characters. "We've never seen this writing style before."

"That's okay," Peach said. "Stuffwell is compiling it right now. We should hopefully have an answer really soon."

"We would suggest that you try to retrieve either the Beanstar or the Chinstar before Bowser does," said Mamar. "As you already know, the Beanstar is the national icon for the Beanbean Kingdom. The Chinstar is the same for Sarasaland."

"Sarasaland?" Peach looked up. "My relative, Princess Daisy, is ruler of that land."

"Then it shouldn't be much trouble for you to go over and talk to her about it," Eldstar said to her. "Perhaps with this knowledge, you could travel over there and retrieve it before Bowser finds out."

"And Bowser certainly won't be able to get the Beanstar without me," Peach added. "He would need my voice to awaken it just like Cackletta did."

"Ah, yes!" Muskular recalled. "We had heard about all that transpired there. Anyway, you should head over to Princess Daisy now. Try to get there without Bowser knowing; you don't want to be followed."

"We implore you," Kalmar said. "Please retrieve as many of the Legendary as you can. Try to get the last three — the more, the better. We will be putting our hope in you: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadette, Starlow, Dreambert . . . all of you. Everything you know and love is now in your hands! We believe in you!"

But as the group was about to turn around and head back to their airship, they suddenly saw Bowser and Bowser Jr in their Clown Cars descending on them again followed by several airships. They could make out a handful of Sapians on board within their adversary's usual minions. Bowser was holding the Star Rod.

"Yeah, you're too late! I bet you already knew that!" Bowser shouted down at them. The Star Spirits all darted off, not wanting to be petrified again. "Aw, they're a bunch of _cowards!_ I shouldn't waste any of my time on them. Hey Mario! Remember this beauty?" He took the Star Rod and sent down a blast. A cloud of smoke appeared, and within it, they beheld the shape of a familiar creature from the stars: Dino Piranha!

"What is that?!" Starlow yelped. "That's not Petey Piranha, is it?"

"No," Peach said. "That's a Dino Piranha; but it certainly looks a lot like him. I wouldn't be surprised if they took Petey's DNA to make this monstrosity."

"And Mario doesn't have his Star Spin to send that big, walnut club-tail backlashing into its head now," Toadette added.

"They have their hammers," Peach assured her. "We can do this!"

As they fought, they found that, sure enough, the head was a weak spot for the reptile creature. However, they also found out that the power of the Star Rod made it immensely stronger than they had remembered it being. But they eventually did manage to take the theropodous behemoth down, where it disappaprated.

"Bowser is sure being a big pain in the neck today!" Toadette commented. "Let's get going to Sarasaland and find that Chinstar before he does!" And they all headed back to the Odyssey.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"So how are you and Princess Daisy related?" Starlow asked Peach as they were traveling. The other party members had taken the time to get some shuteye, though Peach herself did not appear to be tired.

"It's not through the direct Toadstool line," Peach answered. "My great-grandfather had married into the Sarasaland royal lineage through one of the younger of the Princesses. Daisy is the descendent of her oldest brother. I believe Daisy's father was my third cousin, so I guess that technically makes us third cousins once removed."

"That's pretty distant," said Starlow. "How did you two find this out?"

"Oh, this has always been in both our kingdoms' records," Peach told her. "Our parents would often get together, and we were childhood playmates. As Daisy got older, her tomboy nature began to really show, as she started showing an interest in sports. She's always been a tough gal. I would often join her in some of the less aggressive sports like basketball or tennis. I remember the time when she even tried to get onto the Calicon football team; she wanted to be a quarterback. They declined of course, but not so much because she was a girl . . . I think the coach was more concerned for her safety than her ability to play. She was saddened by this, but she soon got over it and settled for soccer."

"Sounds like you both had a lot of fun together," said Starlow. "But you've played soccer before, haven't you, Princess?"

"Yes, I have," she answered. "As I got older and my physique improved, she invited me to try it. It might have been my relationship to her that really got me playing it myself. And that eventually led to us becoming pretty intense, yet friendly, sports rivals — from baseball and soccer to Mario Kart."

"Wish I could try kart racing, but I have no arms!" Starlow said with a chuckle.

They soon arrived at Calicon, the empirical capital. After touching down, they found Princess Daisy there at the airship port to greet them, escorted by two Gao. The two Princesses went up and hugged each other.

"It's good to see you again, Cuz!" Daisy said enthusiastically. "Welcome back to Sarasaland!"

"It's good to be back, Daisy," Peach responded.

"I've heard about what you guys have been up to," Daisy told her. "Sounds like another exciting adventure you've gotten yourselves into!"

"Definitely."

"You mentioned that we might be in danger of an attack from Bowser," consulted Daisy. "What would he want here?"

"Bowser is apparently after a group of entities known as the Legendary Seven," Peach explained. "We were told that you were in possession of one of them: the Chinstar."

"I see," Daisy murmured. "And I take it you guys have come in an attempt to claim it before he does. A good place to start." And she walked up to address the rest of the party.

"Hey there, Mario! Lookin' good! Have you been cutting down on the pasta as of late?" she teased him. Mario looked down at his stomach. Daisy went up and gave him a hug.

"And . . . Green Guy!" she said with hesitation. Luigi got red in the face. This made Daisy laugh aloud. "Aw, I'm just messin' with ya, Luigi! Welcome!" He gave a sigh of relief and reached out his hand for a handshake. She disregarded this, content on giving him a hug as well.

"Toadette! You're looking adorable today!" she complimented. Toadette giggled bashfully and embraced her.

"Ah! You must be Starlow! You're the Star Sprite that's been traveling with the Bros! You're also to die for!" She gave her a gentle hug.

"You're too kind, Princess," Starlow said.

"And you must be the leader of Pi'illo Island," Daisy said, turning to Dreambert. The Pi'illo gave her a bow, but Daisy hugged him anyway.

"I am Prince Dreambert," he addressed. "Mario and Luigi both had freed me and my people from petrification."

"Yes! I've heard all about the Brothers' adventure there, Dreambert." Daisy told him. "Welcome to Sarasaland!"

"Am I disqualified from being an involvement in the salutations, Princess Peach?" came the voice of Stuffwell, who emerged from Mario's back pocket. Daisy's face brightened upon seeing it.

"Ooo! You're the talking suitcase I've heard so much about!" Daisy said gleefully, picking him up and looking him over. "Stuffwell, was it?"

"Yes, I am Stuffwell," the suitcase confirmed.

"Well, it looks like you have quite a party, Cuz! Why don't we head back to the Palace and go over everything."

"Lead the way," Peach said. "We're right behind you."

As they traveled through Calicon, Mario suddenly recalled how hostile the inhabitants of this kingdom had been when they had been brainwashed by Tatanga, though the memory had faded significantly with time. Now they all looked quite peaceful. He could see a number of the Sphinx-like Gao, the robotic Mechabons, and the Tokotoko that looked much like the Moe-Eyes from Tostarena. It almost seemed to him that they were related somehow. The citizens all waived to Mario and company as they walked by. Soon they approached the Empirical Palace on the other side of the town. It did not appear to be all that much bigger than Peach's Castle. Daisy led them through several corridors to her conference room, where there were two Tokotoko guards stationed at its threshold.

"The Chinstar has been a national icon for a very long time," Daisy told them. "It was handed down from monarch to successive monarch as a symbol of peace. It was supposed to give the possessor great power. I inherited it not too long ago when my father died. We keep the Chinstar locked up safe and secure inside the Inverted Pyramid. Mario, you've been there before; most people call that area the Sand Kingdom, but it's always been a part of Sarasaland, specifically the Birabuto Kingdom. Easier to remember, I guess. I remember when Bowser and his Broodal henchmen had all gone there to steal the Binding Band for that wedding attempt of his."

"I managed to get a glimpse of Mario fighting Hariet there at the top of the Pyramid before Bowser flew away," Peach added.

"Knowing Mario, I told my people not to get too involved," Daisy said. "And as I always knew, everything turned out right in the end, and I was glad to see the Tostarenans so happy when Mario got rid of all the ice and brought back the Binding Band. Anyway, let's head over to Tostarena. I'll give you guys additional instructions once we get there."

Touching down on the outskirts of Tostarena, they saw that the place was more or less the same as it had been the last time Mario was there except for one small detail; the Inverted Pyramid was now back on the ground. They all walked through the town talking to the townsfolk, who were quite excited to see them and eventually made their way to the Pyramid itself only to find that the main entrance was shut. Daisy walked over and put her hand up against it; she looked flummoxed.

"Why is the door closed?" she speculated, turning back to the group. "The Inverted Pyramid is supposed to be open to the public."

Mario and company walked around the bottom of the Pyramid to see whether there might be some other way to get in, or whether the hieroglyphs would give them a clue . . . but there was nothing to be seen. The door was apparently the only way in.

"Got any ideas, Daisy?" asked Toadette. Daisy looked back at the door with hands on her hips.

"None," she replied. "This is very strange. Do you suppose . . ."

But at that moment, as they were standing there next to the Pyramid, they saw the two torches next to the door suddenly light up, then saw to their dismay that the sand underneath their feet was starting to shift at an ever-increasing velocity. It was starting to pull them under like quicksand! It would only be a matter of seconds before it was so strong that everyone would sink into it. Mario, Luigi, and the Princesses all managed to scrambled to stationary ground, but Toadette could not, as her legs were much too small to move effectively in dry sand. They watched in horror and helplessness as Toadette sank like a rock into the shifting sand!

"_TOADETTE!"_ Starlow shrieked.

For long minutes, the seven of them stood there in silence. Daisy looked out at the place where their friend had been engulfed and shuttered.

"Oh no . . ."

**XXXXXX**

The shifting sand opened up into a vast cavern as Toadette subsequently felt the weird sensation of freefall. She landed headfirst into a pile of soft snow. She struggled for a moment as she tried to free herself. Succeeding, she took a look at her surroundings.

"Ugh . . . where am I?" she muttered light-headed and shivering in the cold. But slowly she arose, and as soon as she could think straight, she began to explore her environment.

Toadette walked through a series of small caverns, encountering several enemies along the way, though it didn't bother her, as she had tussled with much worse. She was also able to do some mining with her Pickaxe, finding more Coins, items, and more of the green gems that they found in the Coma Caverns. Soon, she reached the end of the small caverns . . . and gasped in wonder.

There before her eyes was the vast Underground Temple that Mario had traveled through, and as she walked along the icy surface, she remembered how difficult it was for Mario to move on such slippery terrain. In that moment of realization, she came to like being a Toad, as her race was not susceptible to slipping on ice along with the Goombas that Mario had to capture. And then she suddenly realized how inconsistent it was for there to be an icicle cavern under a hot desert. Pushing this thought aside for the present moment, Toadette plodded on.

As she had anticipated, the area was filled with Goombas and Goomba Towers along with a number of new enemies. In time, she reached the other end and entered a pipe, then emerged from the other side of it to see another awe-inspiring sight: It was the large icy arena that Mario had fought Knucklotec on! It was presently blanketed in a thick layer of dense snow rather than ice like when Mario had been there. There still did not appear to be any other way to go, so she stepped out onto the arena and gazed at her surroundings. This particular chamber was perhaps the biggest she had ever seen . . . the ceiling had to be at least several hundred feet high (at least 100 meters). She knew that even the tallest buildings in Mushroom City — or even New Donk City — could easily fit under it. After taking in the enormity of the chamber, she focused back on the arena itself and saw that in the middle was an unusual ice formation. Toadette approached it to see a deep blue jewel encrusted in the center. The stone was mesmerizing, and she drew nigh so as to examine it closely.

"Could this be a button?" she postulated. Going against her better judgment, she reached her hands out and pressed firmly on it hoping something would happen. Maybe the whole area would rise as an elevator or something.

Instead, Toadette found herself recoiling in a sudden surge of pain . . . a burning, agonizing pain! She looked at her hands, and they appeared to be steaming like dry ice. It felt as though they had turned into dry ice! She ran about the arena squealing in agony, but she could do nothing to stop it. She looked back down at her hands, which felt like they were frozen solid, and was amazed to see that there didn't seem to be anything happening to them. They still looked as healthy as could be — no frostbite or gangrene, though still steaming. So why did it burn so much?

As Toadette was writhing and whimpering on the ice, the ground beneath her began to rumble, and she looked over at the formation to find that it was rising! The moments passed, and she soon found herself staring into the Olmec face of Knucklotec himself! Now scared stiff, she almost forgot about the searing pain.

"H . . . h . . . hi!" she squeaked, trying to be friendly.

"MUSHROOM . . . GIRL . . . LIVE!" Knucklotec boomed.

"Is . . . is that . . . good . . . or bad?" Toadette asked, terrified.

"IS . . . UN . . . EX . . . PECTED!" the stone creature said. "NOW . . . POSESS . . . ICY . . . HAND!"

"What does that mean?" she inquired further, fighting the pain as much as she could.

"HANDS . . ." Knucklotec rumbled.

"_HANDS!"_ he repeated louder on seeing Toadette hesitate. She quickly held her hands out for him to see. The stone face looked as though it were thinking hard.

"PRESS . . . **(X)** . . . FOCUS!" he finally said.

And while it still burned, Toadette focused and saw what looked like snowflakes emitting from her hands. Concentrating more, she was stunned to see a full-sized ice ball appear!

"This is just like the Brothers' hand abilities!" she thought excitedly. She could also tell that the burning pain was slowly starting to ebb, too.

"GIFT! . . . NATURAL . . . GIFT!" Knucklotec shouted. The walls of the temple seemed to rumble from the intensity of the sound. "MUSHROOM . . . GIRL . . . USE . . ." the entity appeared to be struggling to bring out his thought. ". . . JUST . . . LIKE . . . KNUC…KLO…TEC!"

"Th . . . thank you!" Toadette shivered.

"IS . . . ANCIENT . . . POWER!" the stone face continued. "USE . . . WISELY!"

"I . . . I will! I promise!" Toadette assured him.

Suddenly, Knucklotec slammed his hands violently into the arena. It felt like an earthquake! Along with several giant ice crystals, she saw a clear pipe descending from the high-vaulted ceiling with them.

"PIPE . . . GO . . . TO . . . PYRAMID!" Knucklotec said with difficulty. "GOOD . . . LUCK . . .!"

"Goodbye! Thank you!" Toadette called back and entered the pipe.

She found herself inside the Inverted Pyramid with the main entrance there next to her. It was still shut, and there did not appear to be any switches or buttons around to open it. However, Toadette noticed several podiums in the vicinity that looked like they were supposed to contain something. She went over to one and formed a snowball on it, then did the same thing to the others. Nothing happened.

"Maybe it needs to be a different shape," Toadette thought aloud. She then remembered hearing about how Knucklotec could create icy gems during the fight with Mario when the plumber had captured one of the monolith's fists. So she sat down in the dim light and practiced with her new ability — trying to form the icy mass into that of a crystal. Quite some time passed, but Toadette soon figured it out; and after several more trials to make sure that she had it down, the Toad Brigade operative went to the nearest podium and formed a crystal on top of it. This time, a light appeared above the door on the frame, and she knew that she was on to something. After doing the same for all the rest of the podiums, the door slowly opened before her!

"I did it! It's open!" Toadette cheered. "Now to regroup with the others." And she stepped out into the sunlight.

**XXXXXX**

While Toadette had been in the Underground Cavern; Mario, Luigi, the Princesses, and the rest of their party had all gone into Tostarena to ask around whether the natives there knew why the door was closed. Peach did decide to purchase additional supplies as well. However, it became clear that the Tostarenans were just as clueless as they.

"I don't ever remember the door being closed in the middle of the day, Princess," one of them said. "It does seem pretty strange."

"Thanks for trying," Daisy replied.

"Can I get a picture with you?" the Tostarenan asked her.

"Sure thing! Luigi, would you mind taking our picture?" She handed Luigi the citizen's smartphone and he took their picture with a Jaxi.

"Thank you so much! Good luck!" the individual called out to them.

The six of them eventually found themselves back at the entrance to the Pyramid. The door was still closed, and they found themselves at just as much of a loss as to why it was closed as they were when they first got there.

"Seeing Toadette get swallowed up by the quicksand reminds me of all those times you had experienced that exact same thing in Shifting Sand Land, Mario." Peach commented. "You must have grinded dozens of lives in that painting." Mario looked uncomfortable.

"Is Toadette . . . gone?" Starlow asked.

"Most likely, she ended up in the big Underground Temple," Daisy replied. "It is directly beneath the Inverted Pyramid, and that's why the air is significantly cooler around it. But if not . . . and that's a big "but," mind you . . . then she would be, Starlow." The group shuttered at the thought. They sometimes wished that they could go back to the door and look around for any kind of hidden stud, but the shifting sand was still rolling and made it impossible without being engulfed themselves.

As they were standing there, they were astonished to see the door to the Inverted Pyramid suddenly begin to open! They went as close as they could to it without being caught by the sand and peered inside, and were completely stunned upon seeing Toadette emerge from within!

"I'm back!" she said proudly. "You wouldn't believe what just happened to me!" Toadette turned to the torches and used her new ice powers to extinguish the flames while her friends all looked at her speechless. The quicksand ceased immediately once the flames were out. She then walked out to them.

"What on earth happened, Toadette?" Peach asked her, hardly able to believe her eyes. "We thought you were a goner!"

"I thought so, too!" their Toad friend responded. "The sand opened up into a big cavern complex. After exploring it, I came across the big underground temple that Mario had traveled through, and I eventually found myself at the big arena where Knucklotec had been. Little did I realize that the stone monolith was actually there, and when I touched the big blue gem on his headdress, I received this cool ability!" She started forming snowflakes from her hands. Her friends marveled at her new powers.

"Ooo! I got it! A _**cool**_ ability! Get it?" she added, laughing.

"That's the Icyhand, Toadette!" Daisy told her. "It's a very rare ability. Only a handful of people have ever obtained it. But I've never seen a Toad with it before!"

"Well, maybe I'm the first!" Toadette said.

Daisy then recalled something regarding the Chinstar. "Hey, guys! I just realized . . . there _have_ been times in where the Chinstar has acted on its own. It usually was a case that involved being in grave danger or a fulfillment of something prophetic. Do you suppose that _it_ was the one that closed the entrance to the Pyramid and caused the quicksand so that Toadette could obtain this power? Could your adventure be a fulfillment of some sort of prophecy?" They all looked at each other in contemplation.

"Why don't we put this aside for the time being?" Peach said. "The Pyramid is open now, so let's go get that Chinstar!"

And the seven individuals entered the Pyramid, traversing through several chambers before eventually reaching a much larger chamber with a big, decorative stone door on the other end. There were side passages branching on either side. Their host stopped in the center of this chamber and addressed her guests.

"There are four doors along those walls, see?" Daisy explained. The group took notice of them. "You're gonna need to split up — one to each door, as there will be four switches to pull. Activating all four of them will open this big door in front of us that leads to the room where the Chinstar is kept. The key to opening it, however, is that all of you must throw your switches at exactly the same time. This was supposed to complicate things for anyone attempting to take it. I get the feeling that the Chinstar decided on its own to have Toadette receive the Icyhand, as it is gonna be needed to access one of the switches. Mario and Luigi already happen to possess the other abilities needed: fire and thunder.

"Peach . . . I don't know about you." Daisy hesitated. "Do you have any magical abilities strong enough to break through dense rocks?" Peach thought about it for a few moments.

"Come to think of it," she began. "I did experience some sort of magical power surge back when Bowser stormed into the Castle while we were planning for the eclipse . . . but . . . I don't know whether I'd be able to do it again . . ."

"Can you try?"

"I suppose I could . . ." she thought about how the surge came about, and recalled that she had a powerful wave of memories flowing through her head at the time. She closed her eyes.

"Maybe you should all stand behind me," Peach suggested. They all moved back a safe distance. Facing the side door in question, Peach dropped to her knees, hands in her lap, and concentrated — bringing about as many things as she could think of. She remembered all the times that Bowser had kidnapped her, all the times that Mario had defeated him, the times when she had adventured with Mario herself and defeated Bowser with him . . .

The minutes ticked by, and as the memories swirled about in her brain, she felt a sudden wave of mental energy. She tried to focus on it and stimulate it to increase its energy as though she were trying to build up a big sneeze. It felt really good, and she tried as hard as she could to maintain this mentality and enhance it. As she became more familiar with the sensation, she was better able to grasp it, and it slowly intensified.

"Whoa!" Daisy said. "Her body is slowly starting to glow. We'd better prepare ourselves. This could be big."

From that point onward, Peach's power began to intensify exponentially. Sooner or later, it would saturate. Finally, it reached a point in where it actually started to hurt. She opened her eyes.

"Let's do this!" she cried. She reached out her hand, and at that moment, her power was discharged! The whole Pyramid shook as the blast struck the wall like dynamite. Everyone was flabbergasted when they saw that it had actually broken the stone door into a dozen pieces and off its hinges. Peach gasped herself upon seeing what her power had done.

"Wow! That was amazing!" she breathed. "I never thought I would have been able to bring it back like that!" She concentrated again in an attempt to create another surge. This time, it took her only about fifteen seconds to dispel another large blast. Then ten.

"You did it, Cuz!" Daisy cheered. "You've learned a new ability!"

"I suppose so!" Peach replied.

"That should be plenty strong enough to break the boulders in that room," Daisy told her. "Good luck, everyone!" And soon the quartet of heroes was on their way through their labyrinths. There were many locations within that involved a door with the switch or button needed to open ended up being in another path. They would therefore have to wait at the door until their colleague in another part of the maze found it and activated it. Teamwork was key to reaching the Chinstar; that was for sure. They all finally reached the end of their mazes, but they could never have been prepared for what they found there . . .


	11. Chapter 10

_Got some help from a colleague for Topper's accent and slang. To be honest, I had thought it was Irish, especially since he wears green. However, MarioWiki states that it's actually a __Brooklyn__ accent. Feel free to PM me with any other suggestions._

* * *

**Chapter 10**

As Mario walked captured Starlow out of the low opening, he beheld the last door. It had a large fire emblem engraved into the stone face and two large podiums on either side, and Mario was suddenly reminded of a particular warrior he had once fought who wielded a fiery sword and hardly looked any older than fifteen. He couldn't recall the name, but did know that it was the same as one of the Koopalings. Returning to the task at hand, he uncaptured the Star Sprite, used his Firebrand to light the two podiums next to the door, and then watched the door open slowly. Starlow, who by now had given up on avoiding being captured and had gotten over the post-capture effect, hovered next to the plumber and they peered inside.

"Well, well, well! If it ain't Mr. Face Fins!" came the eerily familiar voice from within. Mario was astonished — it was Topper! "Didn't expec' anyone ta be here, did ya?"

"You . . . you're one of those Broodals Mario told me about!" Starlow shouted. "You rabbits were the henchmen that helped orchestrated Bowser's wedding, weren't you? How did you even get in here?"

The rabbit chuckled. "Aw come on, it don't matta how I gat in here! All dat mattas is dat ya're alone — separate' from ya friends! Ripe for da pickn'! Tink yooze can take me down? I gat me some new rabbits up ma hat, if ya pard'n da pun! Heh-heh! Come a' me!" And the two went into battle there in the chamber. Topper was indeed much stronger than he was back at either Bonneton, Bowser's Castle, or Rabbit Ridge . . . but so was Mario! The plumber soon had Topper sprawled out on the ground.

"Aw shlub! Ya gat me again! Oh well, I had a goof anyway. We out!" he then pulled himself into his hat and disapparated. Mario then went over to the switch and awaited the okay from the others.

**XXXXXX**

When Luigi walked through the great stone door with the lightning bolt carving with Polterpup, he was also startled to see someone in the switch chamber, though he was a little more freaked out when he beheld the form of Rango there in front of the switch.

"Hey there, crybaby!" Rango mocked. "Ready for a beating?"

Luigi looked over the rabbit, noticing his bright orange oversized pants strapped around his shoulders and his overly long ears. He couldn't help but mention them, as it didn't feel like it made much sense to him.

"What's that? How do I hear with these ears?" the Broodal chuckled. "Well how do you suppose I can answer you if I couldn't hear you? How do you think your dog can hear you with long droopy ears? Oh wait! Your dog doesn't even _have _ears! How can he even hear at all? How do you answer that, huh? Anyway, that's enough talking. You're in for a beating, Green 'Stache! No big brother to help you now!" And Rango tossed his wide-brimmed hat over at Luigi to initiate the battle.

But Rango could never have known about how Luigi rescued Mario thrice all by himself. And that despite his outwardly cowardice, deep within him was a love for his brother and the determination to stand up and fight in the face of adversity . . . even if he couldn't show it on the outside. Soon Luigi brought the rabbit to his knees.

"Ugh . . . for a coward, you're pretty tough. Am I missing something?" Rango muttered. "Well, it doesn't matter. We'll come back for you. See you soon!" And he too vanished in a puff of smoke. Luigi gave a sigh of relief and walked over to the switch.

**XXXXXX**

After focusing a discharge at a large rock, she found what had to be the final door. There were torches on either side of it and a large gemstone carved into its face. She went up and stepped on the floor switch, watching the door open slowly. But before she could get much of a glance inside, she found her face splattered in a spray of purple with what felt like ink. It reminded her of a similar sensation from fighting a group of squid-like gunmen with tentacles for hair. Wiping her eyes off, she saw the culprit: Spewart!

"Oh no! It's Princess Peach!" Spewart cried sarcastically. _"HA!_ I'm so scared! Who'd think the little Princess would come to fight?" He then sprayed at her again with his poison spit while Peach blocked it with Perry.

"You're one of those Broodals, aren't you?" Peach said.

"Ha! You bet I am!" he laughed aloud. "And you're the one that should have been Bowser's lovely wife! You two would have made a wonderful couple!"

"Oh, knock it off," Peach snapped. "Why are you here? For the Chinstar?"

"The Chin-what now?" the Broodal said, somewhat confused. "I don't know what on earth you're talking about, missy! We just want revenge, that's what! You came all the way here, let's see what you're made of, Princess! Don't worry, this'll only hurt a lot!" And Spewart approached her for battle.

While Mario or Luigi would probably have been at a big disadvantage, being weak against poison, Peach would not be. His initial poison jet had little effect on her and his other poison attacks weren't all that much more effective, though it wasn't impossible for her to develop the poison status. It didn't take very long for Peach to bring the rabbit swiftly to justice.

"Oh no! Beaten by a Princess! How will I ever face Madam now?" And in the next instant, he disappeared.

"Well, now that Spewart's out of the way, I can wait for the others." Peach said with confidence. "I would suspect that if Spewart was in here, then maybe the other three Broodals have been waiting for Mario, Luigi, and Toadette as well. Let's hope they could take them on." Wiping off her crown, she walked over to the switch and waited.

**XXXXXX**

Toadette looked ahead at her final hurdle. The door was adorned on either side with a pair of torches lit with a light blue flame and there was a water pattern etched into its face. She formed another ice crystal in the podium next to the door, and it finally opened.

"Oh no! Not you!" she gasped in surprise and in slight annoyance.

"Hey there, precious!" Hariet said with a cackle. "I was hoping for the Princess, but you look like you'll do just nicely, too!"

"What do you guys want from us, you conies?" Toadette said fiercely. "Are you after the Chinstar, too?" Hariet eyed her opponent menacingly.

"My, my, don't we have quite a temper today!" she sneered. "I don't know what you mean by this 'Chinstar' thing, but I'll bet that our old boss is involved in it. And if so, then we Broodals would just _love_ to cause you guys some pain! In fact, I reckon we could give that thing to him as a means to make up to him for all the pain and humiliation your silly Mario creep did to us. Revenge is so delicious!" She pulled out and equipped her metallic hat. "I suppose we could call this the 'Battle of the Braids'! You ready, sister? Then _braid_ yourself, cause here I come!" On this last sentence, Hariet began snickering.

Toadette looked at the rabbit in disgust.

"'_Braid_ yourself'?" she repeated. "That's the dumbest pun I've ever heard in my life!" Hariet suddenly burst out in hysterical laughter.

"I know! It's terrible!" she gasped. "But who cares! It's hilarious anyway! Come at me, girl!" She then produced two of her spiked bombs, and the Battle of the Braids began! It turned out to be a very lopsided battle as Toadette had recently become an ice type after receiving the Icyhand. Hariet's spiked bombs made her a fire type and therefore at a big advantage. But despite this, Toadette still gave her adversary a big run for her money and subsequently triumphed.

"Dear me, you're quite strong for a lowly Toad," she mumbled, hardly able to regain her footing without tripping once or twice over her own hoopskirt or being thrown off balance by her high heels. The Toad Brigade operative laughed out loud at the spectacle. "Maybe I had underestimated you just a tiny, little bit! Ain't gonna happen next time, Toadette! Later!" And finally bringing herself to her feet, Hariet managed to pull her hat down and disapparate like the rest of the Broodal gang.

"My goodness, that Hariet's fierce! Maybe she had been just a . . . _hare _. . . too confident!" Toadette giggled to herself, which in moments turned into intense laughter. She finally positioned herself at the switch, and as she approached it, an LED lit up next to it.

"Does that mean that everyone's in position?" she thought.

"Yes, it does!" came an intercom voice from a speaker next to her. It was Daisy. "Listen, I'll count down from three, and then you all throw your switches, okay?"

"Roger that!" Toadette said.

"Got it!" Peach responded.

Mario and Luigi both acknowledged as well.

"Great! On my mark . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . NOW!" and the four of them all threw their switches. The LED by the switches flashed slowly. In the next moment, they saw a Pipe open up next to each of them. Did it work?

"Alright! Now head back and . . . OH NO! . . ." And the transmission was suddenly broken.

"Uh oh! What happened?" Peach thought as she entered the Pipe.

The quartet reunited back in the first chamber in where they had started from to see that the door to the Chinstar was indeed open. Success! However, Daisy was gone.

"Come on everyone! Let's go!" Peach cried.

The large door led into a short hallway terminating in another door. There was no gimmick involved in opening this one. They simply pushed a button and entered. But once they did, they were again shocked.

It was Madam Broode!

"Well, well, well! Look who it is!" the giant rabbit said, turning to meet their gaze. They saw Princess Daisy tied up at one side of the large chamber. From behind their foe emerged the four Broodals. Her golden Chain Chomp was pulling at its chain as though it wanted to have them all for dinner.

"Take that Mama Bunny out, Cuz!" shouted Daisy. "I know you can!"

"Heh heh! Ya guys're in trouble now!" Topper belted out at them.

"We've got you outnumbered!" added Spewart.

"And we've got your precious Chinstar, too!" Rango croaked.

"Are you chumps ready to give up yet?" Hariet cackled.

"That's quite enough, my dearies," Madam Broode murmured. "Why don't we all give them a piece of our minds. I'd say that after all that they've done to us, it seems only fair. Whatever this Chinstar thing is, it must have a ton of power. Would it be avenging enough to use the very item they'd been going after to bring about their downfall? I certainly think so, don't you?"

The four Broodals all chortled in agreement.

"Ya hear da', Mario?" Topper said. "Beat'n by da very ting ya came for!"

"And then you become dog food, too!" Spewart bellowed.

"Technically, it's a Chain Chomp, Spewart," Hariet mentioned. "But yeah! You'll all become a little midnight snack!"

"And maybe Bowser will hire us again!" Rango cheered.

"All right, my lovelies," Madam Broode pampered. "But let's keep Princess Peach intact to bring to Bowser, okay? You hear that, Mario? This is for vengeance! For ruining our careers! For my dear Chompkins! We're settling this here and now!"

It was perhaps the most grueling fight they had experienced so far. While they had been pretty successful in fighting the Broodals one on one, it was quite another thing to fight them all at once, and with Madam Broode to boot. As Spewart had seen how ineffective his poison spit was against Peach, he decided to focus on the Bros, as he was well aware of how Mario was easily hurt by it. Hariet meanwhile would aim for Toadette. Madam Broode's Chain Chomp was too high for the group to jump over, though Mario and Luigi could use their hammers to send it back at her. In addition to this, the rabbits would also try to use the Chinstar to fire blasts and the like, but it became apparent mid-way through that the Broodals didn't really know how to use it — otherwise the outcome of the battle could have been quite different.

In due time, the quartet of heroes took them all out, one by one, until all five were sprawled out on the ground. Mario walked over into their midst and claimed the Chinstar . . . their first Legendary!

"Those Broodal characters are all real brutes!" Starlow said. "Were they this bad during the wedding?"

"Pretty much," Peach answered. "They really do live up to their name: a band of brutal Broodal brutes!" The group laughed lightly at the silly jingle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Topper moaned. "Wate'er ya say!"

The Princess went over to Daisy, untied her, and brought her to her feet.

"Yeah! You guys can take anything down!" Daisy cheered, giving her cousin a hug. "Thanks to you, the Chinstar is safe!"

"What in tarnation does it take to wallop you guys?" Rango muttered.

"No wonder they call you Superstars," groaned Spewart.

"I think I pulled a muscle . . ." Madam Broode gurgled.

The five of them did finally manage to stand up. Peach, however, couldn't help but look back at them. She observed them all for several moments, thinking . . . contemplating her options.

"You guys organized that wedding . . ." she said, walking a few paces towards them. "We have an eclipse party coming up at the Castle in about a week from now. Would you mind organizing that? I'll probably need some overseers."

The rabbits all looked at her, stunned.

"What?! After we had just attacked you?" Hariet asked. "What kind of lunatic are you to ask us something like that?"

Peach gave them a compassionate smile.

"You seem to have been out for revenge solely because you felt that no one would ever hire you again!" she explained. "But I'll bet that whomever it might have been that Bowser hired, they'd have been no more successful than you. Don't blame yourselves, though — it sounds like you guys are really good at what you do. You just happened to be working with Bowser in one of his schemes, and Mario has thwarted him every time. Mario's reputation precedes him, but it doesn't have to affect yours either. Come work with me on this festival! That's what you guys had wanted, right . . . a job?"

The five of them looked torn. The gravitation between both vengeance and her offer was quite strong. After several minutes, Hariet approached the Princess uncomfortably. Peach took a few steps toward her, an inviting smile on her face and hand outstretched.

"You're right," Hariet replied at last. "It was all about the employment . . . I see no reason why we shouldn't." She finally did manage to smile and reach her hand out to meet with Peach's, and upon doing so, all the Broodals suddenly had an unexpected wave of immense satisfaction. A satisfaction that they though could only come from revenge.

"Well!" Daisy said. "Wouldn't have seen that coming!" She watched as Peach put together a contract. "Ready to head back, Cuz?"

"Sure," Peach responded. "Maybe we could get some much-needed sleep, too."

"Not a problem," said Daisy. "There are plenty of guest bedrooms at the Palace. When we get back, I'll have some rooms put together for you as a token of gratitude. You guys deserve it!" And when they did return to the Palace, the Princess arranged for them some of her best living quarters there. After some much-earned rest, the party awoke to find that Daisy had also had breakfast prepared for them.

"You need a break from eating all those Mushrooms," she said to them. "Why don't you treat yourselves to a classic bacon, sausages and fried eggs!"

"It smells delicious!" Toadette sniffed.

So the seven individuals: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toadette, Princess Daisy, Starlow, and Prince Dreambert all sat down and had a group breakfast, though Dreambert did not seem all that interested.

"I'm not hungry," he told them. "I'm still uncomfortable about the Dark Stone." Though his companions did manage to convince him to simply eat a small portion to at least keep up his strength.

"So where do you plan to head next, Peach?" Daisy asked her.

"We're not sure yet," Peach responded. "Maybe the Beanbean Kingdom to retrieve the Beanstar."

"What about your Toadstool Gem? Don't you want to try to find that soon?"

"I'd like to," Peach began after a sip of water, "but Stuffwell doesn't appear to have deciphered the parchment yet."

Daisy swallowed a mouthful and continued. "You know, I happen to know this Toad who is quite fascinated with ancient manuscripts. He's really smart. Maybe you could show it to him sometime. Can I see it?"

Peach indicated to Mario to open Stuffwell, as he was closest to it. Putting down his glass of orange juice, Mario took the chest and handed it to her. Peach then opened it and showed her cousin the message. Upon seeing it, Daisy nearly choked on her sausage.

"Peach . . . I've seen this writing style before!" Daisy said excitedly after avoiding a nasty coughing fit and swallowing.

At the mention of this, everyone nearly choked on their food.

"What? Where?" Toadette asked, forgetting that her mouth was full.

"That Toad I just mentioned," Daisy answered, "he has a couple manuscripts with this exact system of writing on it!"

"How do you know this?" Starlow asked.

"I've been to his place a couple of times," Daisy began. "He works as an intern for the research division here at the Palace. We soon became pretty good friends. He's a very bright Toad named Nerr T majoring in computer science at the Mushroom University. Right now, he is an exchange student at the Sarasacademy, one of the finest universities in the Sarasaland Empire. When I first went to his place, he had shown me some of them. I was at a complete loss as to what I was looking at, as the lines and strokes all seemed to stretch into the others. I couldn't make out any patterns at all. He then blew me off my feet when he told me that he had actually deciphered it!"

"Wow! That's very impressive," Peach commented. She looked again at the parchment and all the characters. "I can't see how anyone could have figured this out."

"Neither can I," said Daisy. "But like I said, this Toad is brilliant! He must have found something who-knows-what that clicked in his mind. He told me that that writing is actually Ancient Funguish."

"Funguish?" Peach repeated, again looking at the script. "How could he have possibly known that? Their alphabet is nothing like that on this parchment."

"Nerr T took the time to learn the language . . . very fluently," Daisy told her. "I don't have the slightest idea why, but he wanted to. He'll have a hard time finding anyone to speak it to, though; there really aren't many people out there short of a handful of historians or PHD's who have learned it — its grammar is supposed to be super sophisticated. He had once tried to tell me about it, but I quickly zoned out. It's just too complicated for me."

"Well . . ." Peach thought aloud. "I suppose it would be a good idea to go to him and see whether he can tell us what this letter has to say."

"Oh, he'll be thrilled to have guests, Peach," Daisy said. "He's a _huge_ fan of Mario's adventures, too. I'll bet it would be a dream come true for him to actually play a part in one of them!" Daisy then arose and turned to leave. "I'll go inform him that you're coming." And after everyone had finished their breakfast, they returned to the Odyssey.

"Nerr T should be expecting you guys soon now," Daisy called out to them. "But I didn't tell him that it was you! I only said that I "found someone that needed a manuscript interpreted" for him. Didn't want him becoming a nervous wreck before you got there. Let me give you his address." Stuffwell emerged and switched to his internal monitor and keyboard and Daisy typed out the address. "Good luck everyone!" And the great airship rose up into the sky.

As the address was within Sarasacademy's grounds, the group had to land their craft in a conveniently located field just outside the premises. They soon found the small cabin where he lived during the semester. It looked quite cozy, although it appeared to be built to accommodate humankind in addition to Toads and any other races that would be studying there at the campus. As the party approached it, they saw a Toad run out to meet them.

"Princess Peach! It's really you! Welcome!" And he gave her a bow.

"Are you Nerr T?" Peach asked.

"Nerr T's inside," said the Toad. "I'm Kino, one of his roommates!" He walked over to the Brothers. "Mario! . . . um . . . Greenie! I've heard about your many adventures! It's so cool to have you guys here! Come on in!"

They walked up the steps to the front door and entered.

"He should be in his room. Go upstairs to the first door on the right," Kino told them. "Why don't you go and surprise him! I wanna hear how he reacts!" They ascended the staircase and opened the door quietly. Nerr T was a typical-looking blue Toad seated at his desktop, rocking back and forth in his chair and talking to himself. They listened in:

"'Stanley began screaming. Please someone wake me up! My name is Stanley! I have a boss! I have an office! I am real! . . . Please just someone tell me I'm real! I must be real! I must be! Can anyone hear my voice?! Who am I? Who am I?! . . . And everything went black.

"'This is the story of—' . . . huh?"

The young Toad turned around upon hearing Princess Peach knock gently on his bedroom door. His heart skipped many beats upon seeing her and the Brothers there on the threshold. He was at a loss for words, adrenaline rushing in like a tsunami at that instant.

"P . . . Pr . . . Princess Peach!" he finally managed to say. He was now shaking noticeably. ". . . Mario! . . . Luigi!"

Luigi gave a cheer.

"I . . . I . . ."

"It's nice to meet you too, Nerr T." Peach addressed him, extending her hand. Nerr T nervously approached her and eventually connected his and Peach could feel the vibrations of adrenaline as she shook it.

"I never . . . thought I'd . . ." the Toad stammered, unable to finish his sentence. _"I have celebrities in my room . . ."_ he whispered. He looked utterly petrified upon seeing Toadette enter along with Starlow.

"T . . . To . . . Toadette!" he continued stammering as she strolled over to him. Nerr T's heart beat all the faster as she approached. He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Hi, Nerr T! Nice to meet you!" she said gaily. And she too extended her hand. The Toad eventually shook it. Toadette, too, could feel the adrenaline in his handshake.

"Aw man! I was kinda hoping for an ear-piercing squeal!" came the voice of Kino from behind them. He walked into their midst. "Oh well! You can't please everybody! Hey Nerr T, how does it feel to have your childhood dreams all come true?" There was no response.

"You a little nervous seeing all your heroes, Buddy?" Cappy asked him. The Toad looked up upon seeing the Bonneter's eyes appear on Mario's cap.

"You . . . you're Cappy . . . right?" Nerr T asked. "You and your . . . capture ability?" Mario looked at Cappy, and quickly threw him once more at Starlow before she even knew it was coming. In moments, the process was complete.

Nerr T's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight. He began to chuckle at seeing Starlow with a moustache, which soon turned into an intense laughing fit as Mario hovered closer to him. He caressed the facial hair, and saw to his greater amusement that it was entirely real! Kino also laughed hysterically.

"That's the most hilarious capture I've ever seen!" Nerr T screamed. "Mario, you're the best!" And Nerr T gave him a big hug. Princess Peach couldn't help but giggle. Mario left his capture host, who after regaining control of herself looked quite cross.

"Mario! Could you at least give me a warning before trying to capture me?" she said angrily. Nerr T continued to laugh.

"Hey, Nerr T," Peach said to him. "We heard that you like old manuscripts . . ." And she brought out her parchment for him to see. At the sight of it, Nerr T's heart skipped even more beats.

"Oh my gosh! Another one!" he squealed. He reached out and delicately took it from her, looking it over. "It is! I didn't ever think that there were any more out there! This is the nicest copy I've ever seen!"

"I would think so," Peach commented. "It has been carefully preserved by my royal line for who knows how long. Can you decipher it for us?"

"I . . . I never thought anything like this could ever happen to me! This really _IS_ a dream come true!" he shouted. He began to study its characters.

"Princess Peach, I believe that I have encoded something from your enigmatic message," Stuffwell mentioned. He emerged from Mario's back pocket and walked out in front of the group. Nerr T's face brightened in delight upon seeing him.

"OMG! It's Stuffwell!" Nerr T shouted yet again. By now, he had mostly gotten over his nervousness and felt more comfortable talking to his unexpected friends. "I remember studying your blueprints!"

"The font was quite sophisticated in nature," Stuffwell began, "and deciphering it concluded quite tedious and time consuming. But from all of that, the patterns slowly revealed themselves which blossomed into additional context. It took miniscule effort to deduce the remainder. Princess Daisy was entirely correct that the message was Ancient Funguish, as I do contain some of its vocabulary in my programming. However, I am devoid of the entirety of the tongue and cannot translate it in its completeness."

"And that's where I come in, right?" Nerr T said, quite thrilled. And he began speaking to them in Ancient Funguish. The group all looked at the young Toad blankly at his fluency of the tongue.

"He blows me away being able to learn such a complicated language," Kino told them. "He's often tried to tell me about it but goes into just a tiny bit too much detail about all the grammatical cases, conjugation, and all the rest. I just can't take in all that much information."

Nerr T was still rambling, and did not seem to notice the expressions on his guests' faces. There was something very peculiar about this Toad. Kino walked over to him, waving his hand in his peer's face.

"All right, Nerr T! That's enough!" he said firmly, putting his hands on his roommate's shoulders. "I think you've proven your point. You're speaking to a brick wall now! Why don't you put that fluency to good use and translate their message, okay?"

"Sorry," Nerr T responded, looking a little sheepish. "Can I see the message?"

Stuffwell switched to his internal monitor, which included the encrypted text on the parchment along with its deciphering in the Funguish alphabet on the right. Nerr T went over and studied the suitcase's deciphering result. He went back to his desk and grabbed a binder with tons of scribblings etched inside and scanned it. Looking back at the suitcase's result, the Toad smiled.

"Well, well! You _did_ figure it out, Stuffwell!" he commended. "Impressive! I think it took me about a month or two before I finally deciphered it. I shouldn't be surprised, though; the Professor is brilliant! . . . Let's see . . ." and the Toad began to translate:

_To whom it may concern._

_It is my hope that by the time this message is read, I should be long gone. The day is coming when the fate of the universe shall be in jeopardy. You who read these words have been fatefully chosen as my descendant to not only protect and treasure my people's greatest artifact, but also to liberate my kingdom from a terrible and fatal demise. Such damage would be irreparable if left alone to happen. Allow me to explain._

_Although they call me "Great," I have strived for the deepest humility. I led my people with a deep, discerning heart, wishing only for prosperity. I was quite the opposite of my father, who was a power-hungry dictator. He subdued the great kingdom to the west in an almighty blitzkrieg, where he struck down my father-in-law, King Phaseolus of the Beanish and disposed of him. I remember well the many trials for treason that he imposed, although I was not yet old enough to fully comprehend it. Upon inheriting the throne, I promised to make amends for all the pain that my father had caused. In time, I rebuilt the capital city of the Beanish folk, which had been left in shambles ever since my father's invasion. Additionally, King Phaseolus' only heir, Princess Leguima, who had been enslaved by my father, became my wife and queen. At the time of this letter, the Beanish are thriving and indebted to me for everything I did for them. And not just the Beanish, but the whole empire, too._

_Indeed, I hope that the Beanish continue to thrive in your age, dear reader. If your people wish to avoid such a terrible regime such as that of my father, then read on; for during my reign, I had a prophetic dream of a possible reality that would surly make my father's flagitious campaigne tame by comparison._

_I looked, and there before me were two trees: a cherry blossom in full bloom and a giant oak. From a faraway land came a flock of seven magic doves searching for a place to roost. Three of them found contentment on the cherry blossom while the other four were led by an owl to the great oak, which housed much wildlife including a majestic eagle watching over it all. This eagle had been searching out the flock of doves with an ulterior motive, and I watched it harness the power of the four doves in the oak to transform into a frightening dragon. In its face, I could easily sense its motive and knew that it yearned for utter destruction of everything! He pursued the other three doves in order to become even more powerful and to realize this yearning by scorching the smaller tree with its fiery breath. But this action made all seven of the doves turn against him, and they subdued him with the greatest ease. After restoring the smaller tree, then turned the beast into a fly. I watched the harmless insect carelessly fly into a web in the cherry blossom's branches and couldn't help but laugh aloud as I then watched it get caught by the spider that weaved it. And though I woke up right then, I was still laughing at the irony of the beast's demise. But the serious implications of the beast succeeding were quite clear to me, too._

_I knew right away that the doves had to represent the Great Seven. Little was known about them other than they gave great power. The Armillarian Gem, a symbol of my royal line, was one of them. Not wanting this gem to be one that fell into the beast's possession, I used its own power to seal it inside the Great Sphinx in the Eastern Desert. Only my royal family line would be able to enter its sanctuary, and of them, only the ones that would be destined to take down the beast would be able to open this chest, which was sealed by the same method._

_I implore you, my child, to protect my people at all costs and not let anything stand in your way. Never let the Gem out of your sight once you have it. Defeat the horrible beast and once again bring peace to my kingdom, to the world, and perhaps the whole universe. The fate of everything you know is now in your hands._

_With all sincerity,_

_Agaricus the Great_

"Agaricus the Great?" Peach repeated, surprised. "Was that really written by Agaricus the Great?"

"That's what it says," he replied.

"Nerr T, Agaricus was my direct ancestor," Peach explained. "He was the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom many centuries ago."

"That'd have to be some several dozen generations past," the Toad added. "That's quite an intact lineage you've got there! Although, the Toads from that time period were quite thorough when it came to record keeping, so maybe it's not all that much of a surprise."

"Did the letter really say that Agaricus married into the Beanish royal family, too?" Toadette asked him.

"Why are you doubting my translation?" Nerr T asked in confusion. "You heard me talking in Funguish earlier, right? I would not lie to you. In fact, I rarely lie at all."

"Sorry. It's just hard to take in," Toadette said. "You see, if that's all true, then that means that Princess Peach has Beanish heritage!"

"Okay . . . I guess I can see how that could be hard to believe," their new friend admitted. "But I assure you it's all trustworthy."

"My, I wonder what Queen Bean and the rest of the Beanish people would think if they found out about this?" Peach speculated. "Our historical records never said anything about it, Nerr T. They do tell about Agaricus the Great and his father, Agaricus the Elder; but it only says that The Elder conquered the Beanbean Kingdom and that Agaricus the Great made it up to them. It never said anything about him marrying into the King's line."

"Wait, are you saying that we have discovered a piece of history on this message?" Nerr T asked in excitement.

"Possibly," Peach answered.

"Wow! This is really exciting!" Nerr T said. He looked over at them. "And I think we can all tell as to what Agaricus is referring to by 'the Great Sphinx in the Eastern Desert,' too. It has to be the Yoshi Sphinx in Gritzy Desert!"

"Then that's where we're heading next," Peach said. "Let's hope that Bowser hasn't figured it out, yet."

"Hey, Princess," Nerr T spoke. "After you go there to retrieve your Gem, will you be heading to the Beanbean Kingdom after that?"

"Yes. We're going to hold on to the Beanstar for Queen Bean."

"Could I come with you?" the Toad asked. "There are a few historians at their Royal Museum that wanted me to come and decipher some recently unearthed parchment samples there that had this system on it, as I was the first one to decipher it. I know I have schoolwork, but they're all easy classes this semester. The professors had even requested that I hold off introducing new subjects, as the pace is much too slow for me."

"You'd have to get their permission," Peach told him. "Otherwise you are free to come along." This made Nerr T nervous . . . he might very well get to travel with his heroes! The thought excited and terrified him.

"I get the feeling they won't mind," Nerr T replied. "Knowing how bright I am, I'd probably be qualified for an exemption."

"How did that system of writing end up in the Beanbean Kingdom?" asked Toadette. "Does Princess Leguima have something to do with it?"

"Of course!" Nerr T answered, matter-of-factly. "Agaricus must have had a reason for using this system, and I think I might know why." He showed them one of his manuscripts that he had framed and hanging in the den. "My friend Goombella gave me this one . . . it appears to be a letter from the Princess to Agaricus. It's a style very similar to the sort of letters that you've sent to Mario when you were kidnapped, Peach. I believe that the two of them used this writing as a secret means of communication. I'd bet that his father would not have liked him talking to her and might have even had him executed for treason if he had found out about it. He probably used this same system on your parchment message as an additional security measure." The Toad pulled out his smartphone. "I'm going to send my professors an email now."

"We'll be back at the Odyssey awaiting their answer," said Peach. "I might also convey the message to Daisy as well." And the group then returned to the airship to put their plans in order.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Up in the bright blue of the morning sky, Princess Peach looked to see the Moon low in the west. It had now reached the Last Quarter phase, which meant that there were only several days left before the eclipse.

"Oh, I hope we can resolve this in time!" Peach thought to herself.

Princess Peach had quickly received a response from Daisy regarding their potential new passenger. She told them that she would give Nerr T a special exemption from his studies, knowing how bright he was. One of the professors agreed to do some personal sessions with him, as he also knew how much the Toad could learn in a short period of time. He felt confident that his student could absorb it all like a sponge in just a matter of days.

"Guys! Guys!" they heard their friend running and screaming at them from his dorm. "They said yes! They said yes! I get to travel with Super Mario! I can't believe it!" He suddenly tripped over a rock and fell flat on his face in the grass. Toadette went over and helped him up.

"You okay, sweetie?" she said with a smile. She couldn't help but giggle at the Toad's intense zeal.

"Yeah, it's all good!" he replied, brushing himself off. He stepped onto the Odyssey and they were about to head out when they all suddenly heard another familiar sound . . .

"Pichu! Pichu!"

Nerr T looked back and chuckled upon seeing the yellow, mouse-like being of said name running out to him from his cabin dragging a small backpack in his mouth. The Pichu ran right up to the Toad and dropped his cargo in front of him, looking hopefully into his master's eyes.

"Aww, you wanna come too, Sparky?" Nerr T asked with a smile.

"That's a Pokémon . . ." Toadette commented. "But . . . how did you get one? They don't live anywhere near here."

"I happened to meet a passing Trainer here on campus," the Toad answered her. "I heard a lot about this practice from a number of students and was always curious about what it was like to raise and train these amazing creatures. We had a nice long talk about it, and later on, he actually brought a couple of his out of their Poké Balls for me to see and interact with. He told me that he had even caught a Rayquaza, but that it probably wouldn't be safe to bring _him_ out. Soon this Pichu here got the Trainer's attention inside his Poké Ball, and noticed that he was instantly attracted to me. He had been one of the Trainer's spares and didn't really need him anymore, so he gave him to me along with some of his old Poké Balls as well."

"I've tangled with one before," Peach added, "along with its evolved form, Pikachu. Even in this stage, they're very formidable fighters."

The Pokémon went around introducing himself to the party starting with Peach, who was closest. The mouse soon reached Luigi in the same fashion, but as Luigi was stroking him, the Pichu accidentally electrocuted the plumber in a sudden discharge. This made everyone laugh.

"Sometimes that happens," Nerr T said with a chuckle. "He's done that to me quite a few times. He's still learning how to control his powers."

With the salutations finished, the mouse rummaged through the backpack and pulled out a small ball — about the size of a golf ball — amidst about a dozen others. The ball then doubled in size, opened on its own, and in a flash, the Pichu vanished inside it. Toadette yelped . . . Luigi shrieked.

"Chill down, guys!" the Toad said to them. "Sparky's okay. He can come out whenever he wants to. Isn't that right?" The Poké Ball suddenly wobbled as if in confirmation. "Let's go, everyone!"

**XXXXXX**

As the Odyssey rose, Nerr T carefully looked out from the balcony to watch his cabin slowly fall away. Kino was outside watching the craft ascend, and the young Toad marveled at how small everything always appeared from high up in the sky. His roommates now looked like ants. He quickly stepped inside before the airship rose too high for his comfort.

"I had always wondered where my parents got my name," Nerr T said to the group as they were travelling. "My full name is Nergle T. I've looked it up, and I have never managed to figure out where they got the name 'Nergle.' It's an interesting name. To me, it's always sounded like the name of some demon that lives at the center of the earth. Imagine having _him_ for an uncle!"

Starlow went up to him and observed him. He was all the time rocking back and forth in his seat . . . more intensely when he was excited. Sometimes, he would shake his arms, or begin to randomly chuckle or laugh out loud to himself. She finally could not help but ask him.

"Nerr T, are you by any chance on the autism spectrum?"

Their new friend looked at her.

"Yeah, I'll bet you were able to tell, right?" the Toad admitted. "Hopefully that's not a bad thing."

"No, not at all."

"I remember my parents telling me about how extremely difficult it was to get me to talk," he told them. "I think it was when I was about four years old before I really started talking on my own. ASD's like me usually have a much, much harder time developing this. Now they yell at me because I talk too much now! I struggle socially as well. At school, I was quite aloof and didn't have many friends. People seemed nice enough to me the first few times I spoke to them, but many of them soon appeared to be trying to avoid me, and I didn't know why. My parents told me it was because I was lecturing them, and not letting them get an opportunity to tell me something. These social cues always felt impossible for me to grasp, and even now I struggle with it. I'm getting better all the while."

"And it's ASD that also makes you super smart, too, right?" Starlow said.

"Naturally!" Nerr T continued. "My interests as a child were entirely alien from the other kindergarteners. While most of the other boys would play with their toy cars, I would draw sugar molecules. I knew every type of saccharide when I was only 6, and could construct it for memory . . . accurate to every hydroxyl orientation! I could recite pi up to 100 decimal places at 8, and 300 decimal places at 12. I can recite it to over 800 decimal places today: 3.141592653589793—"

"All right! All right! I get your point!" Starlow interrupted him. "I don't think anyone here could make it past 50 before they started yawning."

"Right," the Toad stated. "As I got older, I eventually discovered computer programming, and it was like a revelation to me. I quickly excelled in it. Professor E. Gadd took an interest in me when he saw this program I had written from scratch and took me in as an intern. I had played a small part in the programming for Stuffwell. I also have developed a good number of other interests, such as the manuscripts."

"You've got quite a résumé, Nergle," Starlow said.

Soon the Odyssey began to descend, and before long, they stepped out onto the dry sand about 100 yards (95 meters) distant from the great Yoshi Sphinx. Nerr T also thought he was able to see the big temple that housed the Dry Dry Ruins racetrack not too far away.

"This is your time to shine now, Princess," he commented.

"Wish me luck everyone!" Peach said. Mario accompanied her to the Sphinx, and they soon reached its chest area. As the two approached the wall, they saw a light begin to shine on the stone. A small orange gem appeared on its face. Peach reached out her hand and pressed it. It glowed, and in the next moment, they beheld a large passageway open up before them. Princess Peach slowly approached the opening. As she stepped inside, Mario also tried to follow her, but found that there was some kind of barrier keeping him out. He decided to return to the Odyssey.

"I guess I have to do this alone," Peach murmured as she descended into the dimly lit passageway.

Wandering through the chambers, the Princess saw what looked like hieroglyphs on the walls of what could have been life during the time of her ancestor. The Toads appeared to be just like they were in the present — an innocent and peaceful civilization. The style of clothing was obviously the most pronounced difference, as it deviated greatly from the present trend of the vest and sweatpants with no shirt. Farther on, the Princess saw more pictures that appeared to show the tyranny of Agaricus the Elder's reign. The lives of the Toads appeared to be much harsher, though it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the lands conquered by the tyrant. She then saw what must have been Agaricus the Great seated with his Queen making amends to the kingdom for his father's actions. Finally, she saw hieroglyphs of the emperor's dream with the two trees and the great dragon scorching the smaller one with its fiery breath. She could see the four doves in the big tree and the other three fleeing the smaller, conflagrated one. In the next chamber, she saw another mural portraying all seven of them subduing the horrible creature.

In due time, the Princess found herself in a largely decorative chamber. And in the center, on a large podium, Peach beheld the most enticing artifact she had ever seen:

It was a large crystalline gem!

"At last!" Peach thought in excitement. "We've finally found it!"

The Gem was a solid orange color slightly larger than a softball and weighed about five pounds (about 2.4 kg). As Peach approached it, it began to glow — filling the chamber with its eerie luminescence. She slowly reached out her hands to grasp it; the closer she came to it, the brighter it got. She finally made contact with the gem, and its light magnified. She held it delicately in her hands. It was warm and smooth to the touch and reminded her of that of a Power Moon or Power Star, and she was temporarily mesmerized by its brilliant cut surface and refracting patterns. As she was gazing down at it, the Gem suddenly began to illuminate to a point where all her surroundings whitened in its glare. It suddenly felt like she were flying.

"What's going on?" she thought aloud.

In the next moment, she felt herself land on dry sand. She looked around and saw that she had been teleported back to the Odyssey — the gem still clasped tightly in her hands. Mario rushed out to meet her upon seeing the sudden light source. He cheered when he saw Peach with the Toadstool Gem. Another Legendary collected!

But in the span of a single heartbeat, an all too familiar enemy suddenly appeared before them in a puff of smoke.

"Kamek!" Peach shouted in surprise upon seeing the Magikoopa.

"Well! If it isn't Mr. Troublemaker and Fiends!" he cackled, which suddenly stopped upon seeing the Princess holding the Toadstool Gem at her chest. He held his arms out in a sarcastic display of gratefulness while balancing on his broomstick. "And it seems like you have found your first Legendary! Thank you _so_ much for retrieving it for us!"

The Princess scowled at Kamek with antipathy. "Were you following us?"

"Actually, to be frank, I hadn't known you guys were here until just a few moments ago," the Magikoopa admitted. "I knew right away that there was something amiss when I sensed an enormous surge of magical energy emitting from this very location! I knew of nothing that could possibly produce anything that big, so I thought, 'Could that have been one of the Legendary?' and so here I am! And check it out; I've got one, too!" he produced it for them to see. Everyone gasped.

"The Dark Stone!" Dreambert cried out, horrified. "No! . . . How?!"

"That's for me to know and for you to _never_ find out!" said Kamek. "It's unfortunate that I can't use this wonderful item to eliminate you guys here and now. You guys also have one, and anything I try to do directly to you can be easily countered with yours. What a shame! But I know of other means. Here, watch!" Using his own magic, the Magikoopa spawned a Pokey from the ground. Then, using the power of the Dark Stone, he caused it to mutate, and in seconds, they found themselves staring up into the grisly face of a giant Mummipokey. The creature then spawned several Pokey Mummies out of the ground.

"If I can't attack you directly, I can always attack you _indirectly!_ Let's see you take on this for size!" he chortled. He then began to fly off on his broomstick but stopped. "Oh, wait! One more thing!"

He turned around and used the Dark Stone to create a barrier around the Odyssey, preventing anyone else from coming out and assisting them. This fight became Mario's and Peach's alone. "Ta ta!"

And much like their tussle with Dino Piranha back at Star Hill, the Mummipokey was also immensely powerful from the power of the Dark Stone. But the Power Players soon took down the behemoth and turned to face the barrier. Peach gave Mario a hug.

"That was fun — just the two of us fighting together!" Peach said. "We should do this more often! . . . By the sound of it, Kamek didn't realize that we had not one but _two_ Legendary with us." She looked over at the plumber. "Mario, remember what the Star Spirits said about the Legendary having an override?" Mario nodded.

"Hey Luigi!" Peach called. "Can you bring the Chinstar over here for me?" Luigi went into the Odyssey and retrieved it. He went up to the barrier and held it out. Peach took her gem and held it in turn to meet with his.

"Let's make a wish and try to eliminate this barrier," she told him. They concentrated, and the two entities began to glow. Suddenly, the barrier shattered in a spectacular fashion, dissolving into the nothingness whence it came. The Princess cheered upon seeing their success and entered the craft. "That takes care of that. Our next stop is the Beanbean Kingdom, right Nerr T?"

"All right!" the ASD said. "Let's go! I remember hearing a lot about what the Brothers did there." And once more, the Odyssey was aloft.

**XXXXXX**

The time that passed as they were traveling happened mostly in silence, as the party did not actually have much to say. All except Nerr T, who always seemed to have something to say.

"Having Luigi disguise himself as you, Princess, was hilarious!" he said. "I'm kind of surprised that Cackletta and Fawful fell for it so easily right after Fawful saw right through your fake Beanstar."

"It was surprising," Peach commented.

"What never made sense to me was why Mario and Luigi had to go to the Beanbean Kingdom in the first place if your voice had never actually been stolen? Why didn't you tell them about the decoy then?" Peach looked intently at him.

"That's a really good question, Nerr T," she answered. "It was for secrecy. Luigi can be quite impulsive at times, and I get the feeling that he would not be able to help himself if he knew about it. We didn't want them telling anything and spreading the word before Cackletta tried to awaken it."

"I guess that makes some sense," Nerr T acknowledged. "But there's another big question that I had. Why did you endanger yourself by traveling to the Beanbean Kingdom? You made it much easier for Cackletta to find you by going there."

"She would have tried to kidnap me regardless of whether I went there or not, Nerr T," the Princess explained. "She would probably have gone to the Mushroom Kingdom and abducted me in the Castle just like Bowser always does. If I didn't know any better, I would say that a kidnapping was inevitable. After finding out about the decoy, she would undoubtedly reach that option."

"I can see that now," the ASD spoke. "Mario and Luigi would have had to _eventually_ fight Cackletta and put a stop to her once and for all."

"And that's what really matters." The Princess looked out the window and saw the large turret of Beanbean Castle approaching from the distance. "Looks like we're here. You ready, buddy?"

**XXXXXX**

As the Beanbean Kingdom did not yet have a fully operational airship port, they were given permission to land on a small field not far from the Castle. As they walked out, they were greeted by several Beanish guards.

"Welcome back to the Beanbean Kingdom, Princess!" they said. "Mario! Green 'Stache! We're thrilled to have you guys here! Come everyone! Her Majesty is awaiting your arrival at the Castle!" And all seven of them: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadette, Starlow, Dreambert, and Nerr T all followed their Beanish escorts to the castle, where they found Queen Bean and Prince Peasley out to greet them. The Princess stepped forward and gave a bow.

"Princess Peach!" Queen Bean said enthusiastically. "It's so exciting to see you all again! Welcome!"

"How does it fare in the Mushroom Kingdom?" Prince Peasley asked.

"We are on a mission that could very well affect the lives of not just the Mushroom Kingdom, but of your kingdom and all other earthly kingdoms, Your Majesty," the Princess began. "It involves the Beanstar once again." The Queen looked a little concerned.

"Did Cackletta come back again, somehow?" she asked.

"Not this time," Peach answered. "This is a scheme by Bowser."

"Ah yes. _Your_ enemy. Bowser was the one that Cackletta fused with to form that 'Bowletta' character, right?"

"Boy was _that_ an ugly Polymerization!" Peach exclaimed in response. Everyone laughed at this.

"Well put, Princess!" the Queen chuckled. She looked over at her guests. "Mario! Luigi! I can never thank you two enough for all that you did here." Mario went up to her and was about to remove his cap when Cappy assumed his true form and did what he could to bow. Mario bowed in turn.

"Oh my! Who might you be?" she chuckled yet again upon seeing the Bonneton.

"I'm Cappy," he responded. "I'm the replacement for Mario's cap. His original one had been rent to pieces, but I found a big piece of it and assumed its form."

"How adorable!" she said.

"With me, Mario can capture enemies by throwing me at them. He possesses them and can control its actions. I can even have him capture inanimate objects like binoculars, taxis, and even rocks and trees!" The Queen laughed out loud.

"Oh, how wonderful!" she cried. "And what about your little yellow ball of joy there?" she added, looking at Starlow.

"I'm Starlow," she said. "I have recently been traveling with the Brothers on their adventures as a representative of the Star Sprites. I think that this may be one of the most exciting ones yet!" And as if in answer to that, Mario couldn't resist but capture her again! On seeing the Star Sprite suddenly sport a moustache, the Queen laughed even harder. Prince Peasley also laughed haughtily on seeing the spectacle.

"Mario, you never cease to amaze me!" the Prince said proudly. "Whenever I think I've seen everything, you go all out!" Mario returned from Starlow who gave a big sigh of defeat. "And who are your Toad friends back there?"

Toadette and Nerr T stepped forward. Nerr T was quite nervous — another monarch to meet personally.

"These are Toadette and Nerr T, Your Majesty," Peach introduced.

"We're honored to be here, Your Majesty!" Toadette said excitedly, curtsying.

"I remember hearing all about Mario and Luigi's adventure here, Queen Bean," the ASD said. "I never thought I'd get to come with them."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Prince Peasley said. He went over to the Toads and shook their hands. "It looks like we have one more greeting left to give."

"For a moment, I thought I had been left out," came the voice of Prince Dreambert. He hovered over to them and bowed. "I am Prince Dreambert of the Pi'illos. It is nice to have your acquaintance, Queen Bean."

"And I you," the Queen answered, shaking his hand. "I heard much about the Brothers' adventure there. You were freed of a power-hungry enemy, too, right?"

"Yes, we were," Dreambert responded. "And we, too, are indebted to them for their nobility. Thanks to them, Antasma is gone for good."

"Yes! Yes! Wonderful!" the Queen said. "Why don't you all come inside and we can discuss everything in detail. It is quite hot outside!" In the next few minutes, the nine of them all were in the Beanish throne room.

The Princess began: "Bowser has been collecting a group of powerful items known as the Legendary Seven. The Beanstar is one of them. If he manages to obtain all seven of them, he will be literally invincible! No one could stop him if that happens; all hope would be lost. He already has at least three, maybe four. But we have collected two ourselves." And she showed the Queen their Legendary.

"These are the Toadstool Gem from the Mushroom Kingdom and the Chinstar from Sarasaland; two sources of great power saved from Bowser's clutches. We should not like to see the Beanstar suffer such a fate." The Queen and the Prince both marveled at the two.

"A Toadstool Gem . . ." the Queen murmured. "Why have I never heard of this before?" The Princess took the articles, returned them to Stuffwell and continued.

"It appears to have been concealed for centuries by my ancestor, Agaricus the Great. Apparently, he had dreamt of all that is about to happen now. In an act of caution, he sealed the gem away until a worthy recipient and descendent, yours truly, would take possession as a protector. It appears that the four of us were destined to save not just the Mushroom Kingdom or even the world, but the whole _universe!"_

"And do you know who else is Peach's ancestor? King Phaseolus!" Nerr T suddenly shouted without waiting for a pause. At this, the Queen and Prince both looked quite surprised.

"Nerr T, _please!"_ Starlow snapped at him. "Can't you wait for a break in the conversation? You could have waited until later to say that."

"But then I would have forgotten!" Nerr T countered.

"Then write it on a sheet of paper," Starlow countered back.

"That's quite all right, Starlow," Queen Bean said to her. "I have encountered my fair share of excited Beanish that had ASD."

"You can tell?" the Toad asked.

"Of course!" she responded kindly. "I've been all over the Beanbean Kingdom and have met many Beanish civilians. Don't you worry. I'll make sure that we have time to go into more detail about that, my dear. It's just that now is not the time." The monarch looked back at Peach. "I take it you guys would like to hold on to the Beanstar with the rest of your Legendary?"

"That would be the best idea," Princess Peach told her. "You can rest absolutely sure that we'll keep it safe."

"I wouldn't ever doubt that, Peach," said Queen Bean. "After what I've seen of the Mario Brothers, it would be more foolish to think otherwise."

The Queen continued. "We now keep the Beanstar in a recently erected security storage building west of here in Risus Grove. It's just to the north of Chucklehuck Woods. On any other day, it should be much safer there than when we had it here at the Castle. I'll let the guards there know that you are coming."

"And you can take another one of these just in case they need more convincing," Prince Peasley added, giving them a white rose.

"Good luck everyone!" the two of them said as a farewell as the party exited the throne room.


	13. Chapter 12

_I have been itching to present this very important chapter, as it expands upon the main plot and really brings out the title of this story._

* * *

**Chapter 12**

The group soon made its way to Risus Grove and admired the tree varieties strewn along the main road. It included numerous types of flowering trees, some small Chuckola trees, and even a Super Acorn tree. Looking ahead, they saw the storage facility. It looked pretty heavily fortified. They walked up to it to encounter a single Beanish guard there at one side of the main entrance who bowed as Peach approached.

"Welcome Princess Peach!" the guard said zealously. "Mario . . . uh . . . Green Guy, all of you! Welcome to our new storage facility!" Luigi looked immensely annoyed.

"His name is Luigi!" Nerr T told him sternly. "I don't understand why nobody ever can remember that." Luigi jumped in agreement.

"That's enough, Nerr T," Peach said. She looked back at the guard. "Your facility looks quite secure. But, if you don't mind me asking, isn't there supposed to be another guard stationed with you?"

"That's what I was hoping you could help me with," the guard replied. "My companion headed over to Chucklehuck Woods during his lunchbreak so he could get a sample of Chuckola fruit. He said that he has always wanted to have a Chuckola tree in his yard. The thing is . . . he never returned. I was hoping maybe you guys could go down and find out what happened to him, as he's got the other key to the facility. Can you do that for me?"

Mario nodded.

"Of course, we can," Peach assured him.

"Thank you so much!" The guard said happily. "I remember there being a Pipe not too far away that leads directly to Chucklehuck Woods. Best of luck!"

And after finding the Pipe and exiting from its other end, they found themselves in the northern part of the forest, not far from where the Brothers found Chuckleroot. Exploring and investigating the vicinity, they soon noticed a suspicious switch on the ground. Mario threw Cappy at the switch and activated it. An entire Chuckola Tree was relocated to reveal a hidden cave entrance. They all walked inside and navigated the maze of caverns before reaching a small chamber, where they beheld the missing guard, who had apparently subdued a Sapian.

"What happened here?" Peach asked him.

The guard began. "Well, I had been wandering these woods looking for a good sample of Chuckola fruit as I've always wanted to have a Chuckola tree in my yard. As I was at this one tree, _this_ ugly thing snuck up behind me and knocked me out. When I came to, I found myself here. From what I could guess, I would say that it was gonna try to assume my identity in order to break into the facility and take the Beanstar. But I ended up being more than a match for it. So here I am!"

"It looks like you've already taken care of yourself," Peach stated. "Come on. We need to get to the Beanstar before Bowser and his minions do, and it sounds like you have the other key to open the door for us."

"I'm right behind you," the guard replied. And soon they were all back at the facility.

"We have a special security system for the Beanstar, Princess Peach," one of them said. "Here are some access cards that you'll need to open its vault. Some of these systems you'll encounter were inspired by the Brothers' hand abilities. This should ensure that only those with Firebrand and Thunderhand (and we're pretty sure that that is a very, very small number) can possibly get through. You guys should figure it out no problem. We know the Beanstar will be safe with you! Break a leg!" The two guards then opened the doors for the party to enter.

The quartet of heroes and their friends all traversed the system, but as time went on, Luigi had a strange feeling that they were all being followed. They finally reach the main vault and inserted their cards. The door slowly opened, and there was the Beanstar! It looked quite peaceful. Everyone all clambered inside except Peach who lobbied to stay outside to avoid waking the entity prematurely.

But before any of them could make a move, a magical blast entered the room releasing a poison gas cloud upon hitting the floor. Mario and Luigi were out for the count, but Peach and Toadette were only stunned for a few seconds. Then they looked back at the threshold to see the silhouette of one of the Beanish guards standing there. They continued watching as the shape suddenly transformed into the familiar and menacing identity of Kamek!

"Huh? . . . Darn it!" he shouted in frustration upon seeing that both Peach and Toadette were still conscious. "I forgot you guys were resistant to poison! No matter. I'll make sure you never get that Beanstar!" Kamek shot a magic spell at it in an effort to teleport it somewhere else. The spell hit its target, but nothing happened; it had no effect on the Legendary.

"No! How is this possible?!" Kamek cried out again. He took a breath to control himself. "It looks like I'm gonna have to take you out myself. Though it goes against all morality to attack such nice girls like you, I must do whatever it takes to ensure Bowser success. Prepare yourselves!" And in the ensuing battle, he would use his magic to do all sorts of crazy stuff to them. He would shrink them, mess up their stats, and blocking actions among others. But in the end, the High-Flair Pair emerged triumphant.

"NOO! Beaten by a Princess! And a Toad! How embarrassing!" and Kamek disapparated. Peach then took out some Refreshing Herbs and revived the Brothers.

"Now to claim the Beanstar," she said. Luigi went over and collected it. Their third Legendary! "Let's head back to the Castle and tell the Queen of our success."

At then at that moment, the second guard was seen rushing down into their midst, all out of breath. He had hurried down upon realizing the security breach, but looked a little sheepish upon seeing everything under control.

"Oh . . ." the guard stammered. "I . . . I guess you guys took care of everything. Should've expected as much. Anyway, you guys can use the Warp Pipe just outside the vault to exit. It leads straight to the Beanbean Kingdom Museum."

"Museum?" Nerr T looked interested. "Is that the museum that has those newly discovered manuscripts?"

"I believe so," the guard answered. "Go knock yourself out! Good luck on your quest everyone!"

When they exited, they were indeed inside the museum, where the guards positioned in the room were startled upon seeing them. The party showed the officers the rose that Prince Peasley had given them to let them know they were on official business and were subsequently let into the rest of the museum.

They went through the rooms looking at the various exhibits before they came across the manuscript exhibit. Nerr T darted straight to the parchments with the system of writing that he had deciphered. It wasn't long before he was accompanied by several Beanish historians and began talking with them. Perhaps they were the ones that had invited the ASD. The Toad was carefully writing down the message using his notes as they watched, mesmerized at how he could have possibly deciphered it all by himself. After about ten minutes of studying his notes and absorbing the parchments messages, he suddenly darted back to his friends.

"Hey, guys! Check this out!" he hollered. The six of them all went over to the ASD and gave him their attention.

"One of these two is definitely a letter by Agaricus that was sent to the Princess. The other, on the other hand, appears to be an unsent letter by her." He pulled out another notebook and started to translate the message for them. "It appears to start off the same way as the one I have at my dorm — lamenting her captivity and looking forward to the day when Agaricus would take the throne and free her. However, she goes on to say that she had had a dream regarding the prophecy, too. In her dream she was watching the fierce dragon from underneath a third tree not far away in fear of the outcome, when suddenly a peach fell from the tree and landed right next to her. She picked it up and looked at it, when to her great surprise, it spoke to her, saying, 'This is the one!' That peach must have been you, Princess! Who else could it possibly be? It really does sound like a prophecy, as I'll bet that it made no sense at all to her, but it's perfectly clear to us now! " And Peach couldn't help but giggle.

It took a good hour and a half for Nerr T to saturate himself from the manuscripts and finally make their way toward the exit. However, along the way, they noticed that there was a Beanstar Exhibit and curiosity pulled them all in. They saw a large Beanstar replica displayed proudly in the center of it. The party was inevitably drawn to it.

"Wow," the Princess marveled, studying the replica's intricate detail. "They sure did an amazing job reconstructing the Beanstar. It looks so real!"

"Yeah, I know!" Toadette added. "And I wonder what the other guests would think if they knew that we had the_ real _Beanstar with us!"

"It almost makes me want to make a wish right now. I'd love to see it when it wakes up. I wonder if it talks."

"**I do!"** came an unexpected voice from directly in front of them! Before their very eyes, that which they thought was a replica rose from its podium and faced them, shining brightly. The Beanstar was awake!

To make matters worse, Bowser in his Clown Car crashed unceremoniously through the ceiling. Thinking fast, Peach summoned the Beanstar to her and told it to go into Stuffwell. The entity complied, as it could sense the urgency in Peach's request, reforming itself down to the size of an apple and resting next to the other two.

"Rrrrgh! We're too late!" Bowser roared in a terrible rage. "Why didn't you inform us sooner?!" The group saw one of the Beanish guards stationed in the room slowly approach their adversary and were shocked to see him transform into yet another Sapian spy!

"I . . ." the toad stammered, terrified. "I . . . er . . . well . . . my communicator's . . . batteries died. I . . . I had to buy more . . ."

"_BATTERIES?!"_ Bowser fumed in violent savagery. "You liar! I'll bet you were just daydreaming and plum forgot about it! I've got a right mind to feed you to Petey Piranha, or a Cheep Chomp!"

"My king," Kamek said, hovering over to him. "These rascals only have two Legendary. We've got more!" ("Poor Kamek," Peach thought to herself. "If only he knew that we actually have _three_ of them.") "All we have to do is subdue them with superior firepower. After trouncing these fiends, we'll have only one more left!"

"I guess I can't argue with that logic, Kamek," Bowser admitted. "Hey, Junior! Got that thing ready, yet?" At his father's call, Bowser Jr promptly arrived in his Junior Clown Car, laughing mischievously.

"Yep! It's all set! Lemme at 'em!"

And so, Bowser Jr summoned another one of his crazy robotic contraptions. This particular model, however, had been rigged to harness the power of three Legendary — the Dream Stone, the Dark Stone, and the Star Rod in the center.

"Check out this bad boy!" Junior told them. "I can't wait to try this thing out on you guys! I wish we could have equipped all four. We tried, but it was always malfunctioning . . . the circuits got fried! But at least it works just fine with three! That's more than enough to take out you creeps!"

And yet, Bowser Jr could never have known that the heroes had three as well. That made them more than even with the robotic contraption, as the Legendary that they had were assisting them. Additionally, the device was significantly weaker against Luigi's Thunderhand than most other robotic characters that they had previously encountered, making it all the more easy to subdue. As the robot was malfunctioning, Junior grabbed the three Legendary in his possession and flew off before it exploded.

"You idiots keep wrecking my stuff!" he yelled at them. "You're gonna pay for that someday! _PAY_, I tell you!" And in moments, he was gone.

"That Bowser Jr is quite impudent," Dreambert commented. "He is a lot like his father. With the Beanstar, we now have three entities in our possession. But now I am even more concerned . . . Bowser Jr had both the Dream Stone _and_ the Dark Stone on that contraption of his. How on earth did they restore them? You guys doremember that Antasma had shattered the Dark Stone; and you all saw what the Zeekeeper did to the Dream Stone, right?" Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Starlow, the only ones of the group that had personally been there, all nodded in agreement.

"Hey Dreambert, I wasn't there," Toadette said. "But yes, I did hear about what happened on Pi'illo Island. I wish I could have been there to see the sky rain Coins!" Dreambert shuttered at the thought of it.

"Neither was I, Toadette. Don't forget about me!" Nerr T chimed in. "But let's not worry about that for the moment. Why don't we all head back to Beanbean Castle and gather out thoughts."

"Sounds like a plan," Peach seconded. "I think we've had our share of excitement here. Let's fix this mess first, though." She took out the Beanstar. "Beanstar, can you repair this for us?"

"**I can,"** it replied, and in scant seconds, the exhibit was back to normal. Everyone in the room was rendered speechless by what they saw. The Beanstar also took out the replica and put it back on the podium where it belonged.

"Thank you," Peach told it.

"**Not done yet. Back to the Castle!"**

And in the same way that the Toadstool Gem had teleported Peach out of the Yoshi Sphinx, the Beanstar did the same thing to the whole group by sending them to the Beanbean Castle throne room. Queen Bean, Prince Peasley, and Lady Lima were all present there and were all startled, and relieved, to see the group appear before their eyes. The Beanstar hovered over to them.

"**Queen Bean!"** it addressed.

"Beanstar, you're awake!" the Queen cried, half in excitement and half in fear.

"**Prince Peasley!"**

"I never thought I'd get to see this day. What an honor," the Prince said.

"**Lady Lima!"**

Lady Lima was speechless.

"Congratulations to all of you on your success!" Peasley addressed. "Thanks to you, the Beanstar has been wrenched from Bowser's grasp!" He went to them and shook their hands.

"Indeed," Peach replied. "And it was a most unusual plan that he used."

"Tell us!" Peasley invited.

Peach began. "Bowser did the old switcharoo — he managed to flip the replica for the real so that when I stopped by the Beanstar Exhibit, I would believe that it was the replica and start talking. Then when it awoke, he would take it before we could react. But unfortunately for him, his operative was a little late in informing him . . . or taking it himself. I wonder why.

"But listen, there's something that worries me now . . ." But before she could continue, a group of Beanish guards entered.

"Your Majesty, we have apprehended the criminals responsible for the deed!" They then brought them forth — a trio of Sapians. At the sight, Toadette gave a yelp and darted behind the others.

"D . . . don't let them eat me!" she stammered. "I've already been eaten once. I don't wanna get eaten again! Gross!"

"Wait, what?" Nerr T started. "Are you saying these toads eat Toads?!" And he, too, began inching backwards since he was a Toad.

"Please, Toadette, we're not gonna eat you!" they spoke. "We _don't_ eat Toads! To be honest, we prefer Goombas!"

"Tell that to your friend back at Yoshi's Island!" she retorted.

"Well . . ." they hesitated. "Glip was always a strange character. . ."

"Heh heh! Glip!" Nerr T laughed. "That's a great name for a toad!"

The prisoners continued. "He had an unusual craving for Mushrooms. To all the rest of us, they were disgusting, but he loved them. We think that when he saw you that day, he thought you and your kind were the . . . fully matured . . . final form of those Mushrooms . . . that they eventually pulled themselves out of the ground and became Toads. He must have been overwhelmed by some really powerful urge to blow his cover like that. We were all surprised when we heard that he ate you." Toadette still did not appear all the more comforted by this.

"But that's ridiculous!" she said. "We may have some similar qualities to cap mushrooms such as releasing spores and _spawning_ mushrooms, but that doesn't make us Mushrooms. We're not! We're humanoids. We're flesh and blood, male and female, like Mario and Luigi and Peach and Daisy and every other human being out there. In fact, I ate tons of Mushrooms on my way here during this adventure. They're quite tasty and refreshing, actually!"

"Toadette, they already know that," Peach told her. "Save that argument for Glip. What we should be asking them is: Why are you working with Bowser?"

"Our Master has instructed us to collect the Legendary Seven so that he can obtain absolute power," they answered.

"Ha! Classic!" Nerr T said loudly.

"Nerr T, let them talk, okay?" Starlow said to him.

"You probably know by now that when you collect all seven of them, you can do pretty much anything," the creature continued. "Repairing the museum would be like kicking a pebble when compared to what you could do with all seven. You could move planets, blow up stars in the blink of an eye, unravel galaxies in an instant, warp space and time, you'd practically be a _god!"_

"What convinced you to pick Bowser as your Master?" Peach asked them.

"What? . . . No, King Koopa is not our Master," they said. This response was met with great surprise. "However, our Master did tell us to follow Koopa's orders for the time being."

"So if Bowser isn't your Master," Peach inquired further, "then who is?"

"_That_ he wants you to find out for yourselves," the toads stated plainly. "He said you'd know _exactly_ who he was soon enough. It's only a matter of time."

"I see," Peach said, then turned to face the others. "Listen everyone. This creature has just proven what I was about to tell you."

Everyone in the room gave her their rapt attention.

"We all know Bowser quite well . . . well, except perhaps the Beanish, so I'll explain it to them: Bowser has always been a nemesis of very direct methods. Since the very beginning, he would attack the Castle with his Koopa Troop and carry me off. This was just as true for the time when he took the Vibe Scepter and kidnapped Mario or when we would go on vacation like to Yoshi's Island or Isle Delfino. He is not the sort of enemy that you would expect to employ the crafty tactic . . . and the ploy to awaken the Beanstar was beyond devious. Additionally, that band of Sapian spies on Yoshi's Island appears to have aimed for another sneaky scheme — to abduct my father during the Fruit Festival. Mario, Luigi, and I found them atop Yoshi's Peak interrogating my father to get the location of the Toadstool Gem. I don't think we'd have ever found out who it was that kidnapped him if it hadn't been for Glip, who impulsively blew his cover by eating Toadette. The stealth was foiled and they had to abduct my father right then and there in front of everyone, otherwise their opportunity would be lost.

"The point is, Bowser could never have devised a plan like this on his own. His brain is simply not wired for that. That leaves only one other possibility: Bowser is collaborating with someone — and that someone must be the Master of these Sapian creatures! However, it appears that their Master has allowed Bowser to use his direct methods for some of the Seven. He took the Star Rod and King Boo's Crown in just that fashion by bombarding them with his Koopa Troop. Whoever this Master is, it must be he who is the real mastermind behind all of this. It must be he who is that nightmare dragon mentioned on my ancestor's message. And from the sounds of it, it'll become plainly obvious who he is at some point in the near future. We just need to keep our eyes peeled."

After Princess Peach had finished saying these things, a Dream Portal suddenly opened up in their midst. All of the Beanish in the room gasped.

"What on earth is that?" the Queen asked impulsively, temporarily bewitched by the swirling patterns within.

"That's a Dream Portal, Your Highness," answered Peach. "Who could it be?"

They had their answer in seconds. From within the Portal came the form of their Pi'illo friend, Youmie. Followed just after him by a most unexpected being; it was a fairy! It looked like a human baby with small rounded wings, and was wearing what looked like a thick, fluffy onesie.

"Prince Dreambert!" Youmie shouted excitedly. "Prince Dreambert! I found him! I know where the Mushroom King is!"

"Well done, Youmie!" Dreambert commended. "Can you tell us?"

"I don't think I need to," replied the Pi'illo. "My companion here said it would become plain when they saw him."

And at that moment, Luigi suddenly remembered. He _did _recognize this sprite! The plumber quickly went over to Peach and told her. And before the younger Bro had even finished, she too remembered . . . all the old memories from a seemingly bygone era eclipsed in time suddenly inundated her mind, like the sun peeking out from behind dense clouds . . . or the Moon! Her face brightened in revelation.

"Princess Peach," Toadette murmured softly, recalling something that her brother Toad once told her, "is that a —"

"Of course!" Peach suddenly cried in triumph. She looked back at their captives and scanned their features. "You Sapians . . . look just like him! I know who your Master is now!" The toad did his best to smile.

"Like I said. It was only a matter of time!"


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

At that very moment, Bowser was being escorted by a small group of Sapians through a dark, secluded area of the Dream World. The creatures had told him that their Master wanted to meet him for a social gathering and had also requested to see Sergeant Guy as well. After a brief tour of their Master's fortress, the Koopa King was soon led to what appeared to be a modest lodge. There were torches on either side of the main doorway lit with a purple flame.

"Are you two sure this is the place?" Bowser asked them. "Everything here is so dark. I can barely tell one place from another. It reminds me of that place in Luigi's dreams where I met that weirdo bat guy . . . whatever his name was."

"Yes, we're sure, King Koopa," the Sapians confirmed. "We all know this place well . . . like the backs of our hands. Trust us."

"Why did he want me to bring only Sergeant Guy? Why not Private Goomp, Corporal Paraplonk . . . or even Junior or Kamek? What's so special about him? He's just a lowly Shy Guy."

"Our Master will explain everything to you," they replied, walking over to the lodge's entrance. "He's been wanting to meet you for some time now. He's prepared a special arrangement for the two of you in the den. Please, enter and make yourself comfortable." They then opened the double doors and invited their guests in.

Beyond the foyer was a cozy looking den with a dreamy fireplace and two large chairs with a smaller chair in between. One of them was themed after Bowser; the design was similar to that of his VIP chair in the Fawful Theater . . . back when his Castle had been taken over by Fawful and his minions brainwashed. The other chair was adorned with another unique design that Bowser didn't recognize. The smaller third chair appeared to be for Sergeant Guy. Bowser took a few moments to take the room in then sat down in his chair (and found that it was quite comfortable) and relaxed for a few minutes, enjoying the heat from the fireplace and its creosote smells.

"Hmph . . . this actually is a pretty nice place," Bowser murmured. "Very cozy. If it weren't so dark outside, I might want to spend some vacation time here."

"I'm glad you like it!" came a strong voice from the adjoining room. Bowser looked ahead at its threshold. From the darkness emerged the form of the true Master of the Sapian people. His crown and amulet were brightly shining by the light of the fire under the hearth, and his robe had recently been washed. It was none other than . . . Wart! "I had it made specifically with you in mind!"

"So you must be the Master of these creatures," Bowser inquired. Wart looked pleasantly at his guests.

"Yes! I am the great Wart! The King of Nightmares!" the frog announced proudly with a big grin. He sat down in his own seat next to Bowser.

"Yeah . . . I guess I can see a resemblance," Bowser stated, looking his host over. "You do look like a big, fat, green version of those 'Sapian' characters."

"Putting it bluntly like that, yes," the nightmare commented, not at all insulted. "I did want them to bear my image in some way."

"So . . . Wart, was it . . . why did you want me to bring Sergeant Guy?"

"The Shy Guys are a proud member of my army of 8-bits," Wart told him. Sergeant Guy looked surprised. "Yes, Sergeant. It's true! I had been separated from a large population of 8-bits, including Shy Guys, when I was first put here. I soon learned that you had gone to become Bowser's minions and was quite pleased upon seeing you in the company of someone as despicably evil and power-hungry as I. And it wasn't limited to Shy Guys either . . . additional 8-bits that were also adopted include Snifits, Bob-ombs, Pokeys, Ninjis, and Pidgets. It warms my heart to know that many of my minions had been given a new lease on life!"

"I see," Bowser muttered. "I guess I hadn't really thought all that much about where they had come from when I first found them all. From what I recall . . . it wasn't long after I first met Mario."

Wart looked over at his guest. "I had been looking forward to this moment for a long time, years now, in order to meet you, the great Bowser Koopa, Leader of the Koopa Troop, in person! I am honored to meet you!"

"Heh, I haven't heard anyone address me that formally in ages," Bowser commented, shaking the frog's hand. "And what do you mean by 'a long time'? I've never seen you before in my life. I'd never _heard_ of you before now . . . well . . . actually, you _do _seem a little familiar . . . you look a bit like this one reptile character that I just recently made an acquaintance with."

"_You_ may not have heard of me," Wart said. "But _I_ have heard all about you, as I have been watching you with great interest. I know all about the times that you, Bowser, have tried to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. And every single time without exception or variance you were defeated and humiliated. I know that feeling quite well!"

"Defeated by that stupid Mario!" Bowser roared in frustration. "Sometimes that Green-'stached Brother of his tagged along with him. Even Peach herself somehow managed to get in my way on more than one occasion! Don't even get me started on that! Why do you care about them?"

"Two instances I had tried to take over Subcon," the nightmare told him. "Both times, Mario and Luigi put an end to it along with Princess Toadstool and a very brave member of her Mushroom People."

"Toads?" Bowser spat. "Yeah, they're all super annoying . . . too happy and care-free if you ask me! Their high-pitched, gritty, gruff voices drive me up the wall! They're all a bunch of cowards! Well . . . almost all of them, anyway. There's been this pair of Toads that had traveled with Mario recently along with that Toad girl that can imitate Peach. So you hate Mario, too?"

"As much as you do, if not more," Wart stated plainly.

"More than me?" Bowser began ranting, his face beginning to display his anger. "No one hates Mario more than me! Do you even know how much abuse he's put me through? He's flipped switches and hit buttons to drop me into oblivion, he's swung me around by the tail and hurled me into bombs, he's knocked over my hot tub while my son and I were on vacation, he's hosted parties in my gut and invited all of his friends, and more recently how he crashed my wedding to Peach then possessed me like a puppet! He's humiliated me more times than I can count in every conceivable way . . . from using my own weapons against me, having my own castle fall on top of me, throwing me out of a number of his parties, and even being trapped in a giant bottle! Seriously . . . once he even dropped a giant typewriter on my castle for no reason at all! I wasn't even doing anything to him that time! Do you _really_ think you could hate him any more than me?!"

Wart just smiled.

"Yes, it is true that you've tangled with him more than I, I do admit," he responded. "If anything, I envy you, Bowser. While you've never succeeded, you have at least had many, many chances at revenge. And I would certainly have battled him more often if I had the power to. There's a good reason why I haven't. Allow me to explain:

"After my second attempt at conquest and defeat at the Brothers hands, the Subcon decided that they needed higher security measures. Their king banished me to this realm, known as Subspace, and erected a barrier around it to keep me here. It's not just any barrier, you see. It was formed using the Legendary Seven — the artifacts I have been having you collect. This barrier only affects dreamy beings such as myself and most all of my 8-Bit minions. Beings from the Real World like you _can_ pass through. My Sapian minions are not dreamy beings, so they are free to pass through, and they have been my only connection to the rest of the Dream World and the Real World. In order to remove the barrier, you need the power of all Seven. Then once it's gone, I can finally be free of this place and take Subcon for myself!"

"And could those entities let me take over the Mushroom Kingdom as well?" Bowser asked him. "Both the Kingdom and Princess Peach would become all mine just like that?"

"Yes! Of course!" Wart said. "Indubitably! I have no interest in the Real World, Bowser. All I want is Subcon and the Dream World. Work with me, and the Mushroom Kingdom can easily become yours!"

"And Mario?" Bowser added in increasing excitement. "I'd never have to worry about Mario and Green 'Stache ever again?"

"Never!" Wart shouted enthusiastically. "You . . . _WE_ I should say . . . will finally be free of them forever!" And the two villains shared an evil laugh that could send shivers down the spines of anyone nearby! A grim scenario indeed!


	15. Chapter 14

_Since Fanfiction doesn't support Shroob characters, I had to replace them with hashtags. However, I did pick random characters to use for my Shroob's name, which can be found in the illustrated Word document edition of my story._

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Before the party could return to Peach's Castle and, at long last, initiate their rescue of the King, they first had to make sure that the second guard to the Storage Facility was again found, since the guard that they had encountered in Chucklehuck Woods had really been Kamek. _(Author's Note: This can be considered a side quest if my story were actually developed into a video game.) _Through the tunnel complex from before, they found the Sapian that the guard had supposedly taken out lost in the midst of it. Guessing as to what had really happened to the guard, they took the toad creature back to Beanbean Castle and successfully returned him to his Beanish identity.

As the heroes were on their way back to the Odyssey, Queen Bean, Prince Peasley and the rest of the royal guard all wished the party luck on their mission.

"Oh, Princess Peach," Queen Bean said excitedly. "I would never have realized how much closer our two kingdoms were to each other: How you, the humble monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom, had Beanish heritage! Indeed, we know all about King Phaseolus and his daughter, Princess Leguima, as it is mandatory in all of our schools as an important part of our Kingdom's history . . . as well as Agaricus the Great, since he had contributed much to restoring the Beanish society after his father's conquest. But we never knew that there was a connection between him and the Princess. What a wonderful discovery!"

"Neither did I, Queen Bean," Peach replied. "I myself had read about that period, too, but it never went into any detail on the relationship between Agaricus and Leguima. We may very well have found a priceless artifact in that chest. Farewell, Your Highness!"

"Keep your eyes open!" Prince Peasley added as the Odyssey took off. The royal family watched as the airship flew over the town and out towards Joke's End and beyond.

**XXXXXX**

"Hey, Toadette," Nerr T inquired as they were traveling. "Uh . . . I was always curious . . . What did it feel like being eaten alive?"

Toadette looked over at her companion, slightly surprised at such an unexpected question. "Why on earth would you want to know that?" she asked in curiosity.

"Well . . ." the ASD hesitated. "It's one of those wacky scenarios that people often speculate on . . . like what it would be like to be able to breathe underwater, bathe in liquid metal, get carried away on a helium balloon, or to fly through the sky like a bird."

Toadette couldn't help but giggle at his creative ideas. "It's not something you would ever want to experience yourself. I should consider myself lucky to have escaped such a death."

"I'm aware of that," said Nerr T. "It's just one of those basic actions that you _wonder_ what it would feel like to experience yourself. I mean . . . have you ever swallowed a fly?"

"Yeah," Toadette replied. "During this one baseball game when I hit a home run and was excitedly darted around the bases, as I was approaching home plate, a fly flew straight into the back of my mouth and I swallowed it! Uch! It was so disgusting! . . . But we all laughed about it anyway."

Nerr T laughed aloud. "That's hilarious! I give you two thumbs up!"

Toadette giggled. "Anyway, I believe I can see what you're getting at: What would it feel like from the fly's point of view? What would it feel like if you yourself were swallowed by something? I guess I am now qualified to tell people myself. To tell you the truth, it felt really weird. I mean, I had been in a Yoshi's mouth before when I traveled with Mario to rescue Peach from her own castle, and that in itself felt weird. But being swallowed alive felt even weirder. I remember how tight it felt, with the muscular tissue squeezing me from every side and guiding me into the creature's stomach. It was slimy, too! Slimy all the way down . . . So there I was, alive, in the toad's stomach, asphyxiating and starting to get digested. The gastric juice burned, and I began to recap my life and think about what else I could have contributed to the world, such as, 'I wish I could have given that concert,' and the like. Oh, by the way, I was being jostled about as the imposter fought the others. Well you can imagine how relieved I was when I felt the creature fall in defeat, and when his stomach started to gurgle, and I was pushed back up the way I had come. After several muscle contractions, I found myself back outside. I breathed heavily for much-needed oxygen, lucky to be alive. I must have been so discombobulated, that I didn't really take in the unfolding scene, passing out in exhaustion. The other Yoshis took me back to the village where I showered off and got a change of clothes as all of my previous set had been damaged from partial digestion. I'm quite glad to have brought along with me that extra pair, as I had debated whether I wanted to relax in the Yoshi's Island Hot Spring after the Festival. So I brought my swimsuit and change of clothes just in case. All in all, being eaten was _not_ pleasant; take my word for it.

"So, does that answer your question, Nerr T?" Toadette finished. The Toad was writing it all down on a sheet of paper in another notebook.

"Yes, definitely," he responded.

"You know, there have been a number of others out there who have experienced being eaten alive, too," Toadette added. "There was Prince Mallow and Belome, Starlow and the giant Scutlet, Britta and Torkscrew, Yoshi and Prince Froggy, and even the Brothers themselves . . . several times, with Bowletta, the ginormous Yoob, and even Bowser himself! And before encountering the Sapians up on Yoshi's Peak, they along with the Princess had all been eaten by a Mega Cheep Chomp then lit a fire in its stomach to get out."

"That's very interesting!" Nerr T marveled. "Wish I could have been there to see that!"

"Well, it looks like we have arrived back at the Castle," said Toadette looking out the window. "You know . . . talking with you about being eaten alive actually makes me feel much better about it! I enjoyed chatting with you, Nergle. Maybe we can talk a little more later." And she headed out towards the exit. But before she left, Toadette looked back at the ASD and winked at him with an affectionate smile. Nerr T chuckled shyly, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline.

"D . . . does she like me?" he thought to himself, and subsequently followed her out of the airship and onto the Castle grounds.

**XXXXXX**

Stepping in the main hallway, they were pleased to see Professor E. Gadd present there and talking pleasantly to their friendly Shroob. The Mushroom Retainers had even warmed up to him and chatted with him. Toadsworth was present, too . . . and while he had since calmed down and could tell that this Shroob was anything but hostile, it was still quite obvious that he was uncomfortable having the alien present in the Castle. In addition, DeMille and Patharan had arrived at the Castle and were given a room.

"Princess Peach! You finally made it!" came the voice of the liver-spotted professor. He took a few steps toward her and bowed.

"Hello, Professor," Peach addressed him. "Fancy seeing you here. It looks like you have met our unusual Shroob friend."

"Indeed," E. Gadd responded, bowing again. "When I heard that you had a Shroob in the Castle, I was intrigued . . . and excited! I quickly headed over here hoping that maybe he knew about their high-tech equipment. Apparently, he was one of their top engineers. Ever since his people invaded the Mushroom Kingdom of the Past, I had always hoped to study their technology. Even I had trouble piecing together all of it. This fellow here has just got a wealth of information, explaining in ways that even I hadn't considered with theories that we haven't even discovered yet! It is quite apparent, Princess, that he really does resent the actions of his people, and since he was the odd man out, he couldn't really do anything about it. He was forced to comply to the Princesses' orders.

"Ah! It looks like you have acquainted yourselves with my old intern!" he said suddenly, turning his gaze to the ASD. "Good to see you again! How's it going in Sarasaland, ol' buddy?"

"It's going well!" Nerr T said gleefully, shaking his hand. "I got permission from my professors and Princess Daisy to accompany Mario and friends. Let me say, I still remember studying your blueprints for Stuffwell. Boy, was it complicated!"

"And it looks like you guys found him!" E. Gadd commented. "Where was he?" Peach then told him about their bout with the Bandits back in the Toadwood Forest.

"I see," he murmured. "I do recall that he had just disappeared from my lab one day not too long after the Brothers returned him. I'm not surprised to hear that it had been Bandits that took Stuffwell. Anyway, enough about me. What is your next step in rescuing the King?"

"My father is being held in Subcon," Peach answered. She looked over at their Subcon companion. "And as it's in the Dream World, Prince Dreambert is here to assist us in entering."

"Ah yes! The Pi'illo!" the Professor remarked. He went over to the two Pi'illos and shook their hands. "It's a pleasure to finally meet one, let alone two! I've always wondered how Dream Portals worked. It's just that the majority of my time has been spent on the usual ghost research."

"Hey Professor," the Shroob said. "My people had done a lot of studying on Dream Portals and still have tons of research on it. If you want more information, I have the power to access it for you. It's all back at the Vim Factory."

"Later . . . uh . . . Hey! I just realized that you don't have a name yet, Shroob." Peach told him.

"Oh . . . I guess I never bothered to adopt an Earth name. My name in the Shroob language is '####'. . . But . . . let's see here . . . how about Charlie. 'Charlie Shroobson'!" On hearing this, Mario and Luigi both laugh heavily; even Peach giggled a little.

"Oh, cut our friend some slack, people!" E. Gadd protested. "I think that name is just fine."

"I appreciate your advocacy, Professor," the Shroob said. "It's just . . . I've always liked your Earth name 'Charlie,' and lots of your surnames end in '-son,' and since I'm a Shroob . . ."

"Sorry, Charlie," Peach apologized. "It's a cute name. Welcome to our club, Mr. Shroobson!"

"Thank you, Princess," Charlie acknowledged. "So how will Prince Dreambert access the Dream World?" The Pi'illo went up to the Shroob.

"You will need enlightenment on what happened that day: Not long ago, Mario and Luigi had been invited along with the Princess to spend vacation at my homeland: Pi'illo Island. My people had been considered extinct, with the island as the only remnant, so they thought. In truth, we were only petrified, and when the Brothers came across my form, Luigi slept on it, which spawned a Dream Portal. Princess Peach was drawn into the Portal by our enemy, named Antasma, who planned to use her as a physical vessel. Mario jumped into the Portal in pursuit. Soon after, Bowser also jumped into the Portal, jealous upon hearing that Peach had been kidnapped by someone else. Antasma let the Princess go when he met Bowser, as he decided that Bowser was a better-fitting host since they had similar desires and ambitions. Mario encountered the nightmare chunk that had imprisoned me shortly after and broke it, thus liberating me."

"What caused you to become petrified, Dreambert?" the Shroob asked.

"It was Antasma," he answered. "Many ages ago, my people had fought him when the bat had stolen the Dark Stone. The Dream Stone and the Dark Stone were under our protection. We Pi'illos soon subdued him and banished him to the Dream World; but right before he was sealed, Antasma shattered the Dark Stone, and its fragments scattered across the island. All of us were petrified when the shrapnel made contact."

"I didn't know that humans had the ability to spawn Dream Portals," Charlie said.

"They don't . . . usually. Luigi is the only one that I know of that has this ability," Dreambert explained. "It was also this ability that liberated Antasma from the Dream World. I do not blame Luigi for this, for none of them could have possibly known about it. In the end, the Brothers made up for it by defeating Antasma for good and forever freeing my people from his influence."

"Very interesting," the Shroob marveled, envisioning the scene. "If you're going into the Dream World, Mario, could I come with you? I wanna see what it's like." Mario nodded.

"Dream Portals are easy to spawn on our island," Dreambert continued. "There is a ton of dreamy energy there. However, I am not so sure what it will be like here in the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi's mind may or may not be strong enough to summon one. Though Peach told me that they had once traveled to Subcon from the Mushroom Kingdom, so maybe there is the possibility. I have vague memories of Subcon. Their people are quite peaceful, I recall . . . much like the Toads in your Kingdom. But let us put this aside for the present and make the attempt. Be at one with success, Luigi!" And Dreambert assumed his pillow form. Luigi lay down, and in moments he was fast asleep. Their Shroob companion observed everything in fascination. The Subcon was also curious to see the process as well.

"Wow! He's asleep already!" he chuckled, looking up at Starlow next to him.

"I know," Starlow added. "I wish I could sleep like that."

Nothing happened for about ten seconds. But sure enough, the Portal did appear before them. The Subcon smiled brightly and clapped his hands in excitement while the Shroob stared at it, mesmerized.

"######!" Charlie cried impulsively in his own language. Seeing his friends' blank expressions, he quickly translated. "Great Galloping Gerdie! There it is! I never thought I would live to see one! Let's go Mario!" And the two of them entered the Portal into the unknown.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Arriving in the Dream World, Mario observed his unusual ally take a look around for a few moments, absorbing the scene before him. While the landscape wasn't all that much different, there appeared to be a very small visual distortion wherever they looked, much like the type created by waves of heat.

"Really strange," the Shroob murmured. "But . . . in a really fascinating way. It feels like it's gonna lull me to sleep if I keep staring at it . . . Heh! that would be interesting. Imagine falling asleep and then dreaming in the Dream World! I think I might have seen a movie like that when I was learning your language . . ." Mario then remembered his final battle with Antasma.

After a minute or so, the two of them saw Dreamy Luigi appear.

"Luigi?!" the Shroob shouted in surprise. "I thought you were asleep. How are you here?"

"This is Dreamy Luigi," came the voice of Dreambert; his essence appearing before them. "Luigi _is_ still asleep, but he can continue to travel with Mario in this dreamy form."

"Awesome!" Charlie exclaimed. "This dreamy dimension is so cool!"

As Mario, Dreamy Luigi, Dreambert, and Charlie walked (if applicable) down a pathway, they encountered several Subcon citizens within a small residential area. On seeing the Brothers, they all approached.

"Mario! Luigi!" one of them said. "Welcome back, both of you! It's been ages since we've seen you. Thanks again for all you and your friends did for us those many years ago. What brings you back after all this time?"

"Mario's ruler, the Mushroom King, has been kidnapped by these toad creatures called the Sapians," Charlie told them. "Princess Peach said that some entity called Wart had him abducted in order to get the location of one of the Legendary Seven." All the Subcon present suddenly looked terrified.

"Oh no! Not the Legendary!" one of them cried. "If Wart manages to break that barrier, it'll spell the end of Subcon as we know it! You've gotta stop him, Mario!" The fairy pointed down the road. "Keep traveling on this path and you'll reach our capital. Our King can tell you where the main entrance to Subspace is. If that is where your Mushroom King is being held, then you may not have much of a choice but to go in. Good luck!"

Following the path, the quartet indeed reached the outskirts of a thriving town. It reminded Mario of Toad Town. There were many Subcon there, male and female, in many different colored onesies. They soon made their way into a central circle with a fountain, and it appeared to be the very center of town. All the Subcon in the area crowded around them.

"Those Sapian freaks are annoying!" said a young Subcon in a light green onesie.

"There all so rude!" said a Subcon girl in light blue with a ponytail.

"Mario, you've gotta get rid of them! They're a disturbance of the peace," said yet another one dressed in orange.

"It's gotta be Wart!" another was heard to say. "He's up to no good again! He's gonna find a way to break that barrier, isn't he?"

"What's all this talk about a barrier?" Charlie asked them.

"Our King set up a barrier to trap Wart in Subspace using the power of the Legendary Seven. And . . . if Wart should . . ." and the Subcon couldn't finish her sentence, too terrified to think about it.

"Yeah, we've got a pretty good idea of what would happen then," said Charlie. "Mario here will stop him just like he did with my people."

"Wait . . . did your people attacked him?" another Subcon asked, turning his attention to the Shroob. He was dressed in the default red and had recently had his wings polished. "Then why are _you_ traveling with him?"

"I was an exception," the Shroob explained. "The _only_ exception. All of my other fellow Shroobs, every single one of them, were extremely hostile and aggressive. I am the last of my people and am only here because, as you can see, I am _not_ hostile. Why would I even be talking to you if I were? Can you show us where your King's palace is?"

"It's up there. You can't miss it," the Subcon told them. The quartet looked in the direction he indicated to see a large castle down one of the paths. "Please! We beseech you, Mario! Save our people just like you did before! We believe in you!"

As they all approached the palace, they saw the King of Subcon, Osama, walking out to them at the front entrance. Word of the Brothers' arrival must have spread quite rapidly. The monarch's outfit hadn't changed, but he wasn't wearing his crown and had at some point decided to dispense with the wig. Perhaps he had decided to reserve them for formalities, diplomacy or special events. Osama smiled kindly at them, though they could tell that he was troubled by the current affairs.

"Welcome, Mario! Welcome, Luigi!" the King addressed. "It's really exciting to see you two again after such a long time!" As the plumbers approached the King, Luigi removed his cap while Cappy assumed his true form and tried to bow. "It looks like you've made some new friends since last you were here."

"I'm Cappy," the Bonneton replied. "I'm the replacement for Mario's cap. He had lost it in a tussle with Bowser, then it got rent to shreds. However, I found one of its biggest pieces and subsequently took on its form. It's not just limited to that type though. I can assume lots of other hat types as well: a woven straw hat, sea captain's hat, a sombrero, a top hat, an astronaut's helmet, and more! I could go on and on!"

"It sounds like you enjoy traveling with Mario if you're willing to pose as his cap," Osama commented.

"We've traveled all over the world, Your Majesty!" Cappy cried in excitement. "He's the best friend I've ever had! I'm not leaving him anytime soon!"

"Wonderful!" the King chuckled. He shifted his attention over to their alien companion. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Charlie," the Shroob answered. "I wanted to see what the Dream World was like, so I tagged along with them. I'm from another planet, but don't let that make you uncomfortable. I'm their friend."

"It's nice to meet you, Charlie," Osama said. He reached out and shook the alien's two-fingered hand.

"Your Majesty!" came the voice of Dreambert. "It is a pleasure to reacquaint myself with you and your people."

"Prince Dreambert!" the King said gaily. "It's good to see you alive and well! We hadn't seen your people in ages and assumed that you had all gone extinct. It wasn't until your operative, Youmie, showed up that convinced us otherwise. He told us about how you had been freed by the Mario Brothers here and about how they defeated your enemy, Antasma."

"We are indeed indebted to them just as you are," Dreambert responded. "Their fame has spread to many lands for their nobility."

"I take it that you wish to enter Subspace to rescue your Mushroom King then," Osama clarified. Mario nodded. "Of course you do! The entrance to Subspace is in the rear courtyard . . . but you should prepare yourselves. Wart has his 8-bit operatives scattered all over the place there. Fortunately, our barrier keeps them out — all except the Sapians, however. It appears that they are the newest of his 8-bit creations. Yes, the Sapians were created by Wart himself using the first of the Seven that he obtained: the Dark Stone."

"I have been wondering about that myself," Dreambert told him. "Surely Youmie told you about how Antasma had shattered the Dark Stone when we had trapped him here in the Dream World, is that not true?"

"Youmie went into all the details," Osama replied, focusing his gaze on the Pi'illo. "Dreambert, may I offer a postulate?"

The head of the Pi'illos gave the King of Subcon his attention.

"It might be an extreme case, but do you suppose that one of the chunks could have ended up in the Dream World?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I . . ." Dreambert hesitated, pondering the possibility. "I guess that could have happened. I suppose I wouldn't have gotten much time to consider something like that before being petrified."

"Here's my theory: When Antasma shattered the Dark Stone, one of its fragments ended up in the Dream World. It could have drifted through this dimension for ages before it eventually made its way to Subspace and inevitably intercepting Wart. Each piece of the Stone must have the ability to harness the power of nightmares just like when it was intact. If there was a nightmare power source strong enough, a shard could very well be capable of reforming the entire Stone."

"The Star Spirits did say that even if the physical form of a Legendary were destroyed, the sentient essence of it would continue to exist and take on a new form," Dreambert told the King.

"So due to the present circumstances, the essence of the Legendary must certainly have been in that one fragment that ended up here in the Dream World," Osama stated. "The nature of that nightmare power source is none other than Wart himself, as he has become the very manifestation of nightmares. His origin may be similar to that of Antasma; but I think that in the case of Wart, it was to a much greater degree. So much that his physical nature was overwhelmingly consumed by that of nothing but nightmare. With such an intense source of nightmare energy, one of the chunks could reform the entire Stone by simply being in _proximity_ to Wart. He could then use its power to create the Sapians."

"Sounds like a reasonable theory," Dreambert commented. "But that still doesn't tell us how he obtained the Dream Stone."

"We can worry about that later," Osama told him. "Let's get you guys into Subspace for the time being. Please follow me!" Escorting his guests through his palace, they soon found themselves in the rear courtyard. It was quite large with lots of grass and shrubbery. At its rear wall was a large doorway.

"This is our only permanent entrance to Subspace," said the King. "Any changes we make here in Subcon can affect Subspace and vice versa, so we always wanted to make sure that nothing in Subspace would seriously affect Subcon. This dimension is also a handy means of traveling, as there are several warps in the mirror of this palace that lead to other parts of the Dream World. It makes it quite efficient to go from one place to another.

"Of course, that was before we had to seal Wart there. Now, as I said, it is simply _crawling_ with his 8-bit minions. We haven't used Subspace since. When you go in to defeat Wart and rescue your King, you have to try to eliminate him for good just like you did with Antasma. Can you Brothers do that for me? For all of Subcon?"

The Brothers jumped as one in confirmation. Osama smiled kindly.

"I knew I could count on you!" he said to them. "Go break a leg!" And the monarch went to the doorway and opened it. Luigi, in unusual zeal, ran at the portal and suddenly found himself repelled from it and flat on his back as though he had run into a net. Mario then walked slowly up to the entrance and stepped through without difficulty. He took a look around at the darkness of the dimension, seeing many of Wart's minions in the near vicinity before stepping back out. Luigi looked quite cross upon seeing that Mario could enter. He walked up to the portal and reached his hands out at the entrance and felt resistance, like pressing into a mattress. He then stepped back a few paces, fell to his knees and began crying in despair.

"Hmm . . ." Osama murmured, a look of confusion on his face. "Why is the barrier rejecting Luigi but not Mario?"

"I think I know," Dreambert answered. "It is because he is not really Luigi, but merely Dreamy Luigi."

"Ah, that explains it!" the King said. "As a dreamy being, the barrier is casting him aside. It appears that, if you two would like to remain together, then you will need to get the real Luigi into the Dream World. I'm sure you don't wish to leave your little brother behind, right?" Mario jumped in agreement.

"But Osama," Prince Dreambert said. "I don't know if that is possible. You see, it was the real Luigi that spawned the Dream Portal that got Mario here in the first place. I don't know of any other way to enter the Dream World without Luigi . . ."

"Um . . . excuse me, Your Majesty," came the voice of Charlie, who had been mostly forgotten in the exchange between the two royal figures. "I beg your pardon, but I might have an answer to your dilemma . . ." The four beings turned to face their Shroob companion.

"I mentioned this before Mario and I entered the Portal. My people, the Shroobs, also knew of this dimension you call the Dream World, and they had been studying it even before coming to Earth. The Vim Factory in the Toadwood Forest, where the Toads' vim was harvested for power, also had a scientific research division. That's where I was stationed when my people invaded the Mushroom Kingdom. That's also how my companions and I escaped the baby's tears rain that the Professor implemented. We were very close to a breakthrough before my people were defeated. All the research is still there, so maybe Professor E. Gadd could help me finish it, and we would be able to make a Portal ourselves."

"That sounds promising, Charlie," Osama replied. "Probably the best bet for the moment. I wish you all luck!"

"Wait . . . I just remembered something," Dreambert recollected. "Antasma used the Dark Stone to grant him the ability to spawn Dream Portals. I suppose we could always go back and use the Legendary we collected to spawn a Portal. We can always experiment with your idea at another time, okay?"

"I'm fine with that," the Shroob replied.

"We hope to see you again soon, Your Highness," Dreambert said as they left. "Be at one with confidence!"

The King chuckled. "I will, Dreambert. Farewell!"

**XXXXXX**

"What happened, guys?" Peach asked when Mario and company returned from the Portal. "Did you find Subcon?"

"We did," Dreambert answered. "And we got to talk to King Osama. But we discovered that Dreamy Luigi cannot enter Subspace since the barrier was rejecting him. We need to get the real Luigi into the Dream World in order for the Brothers to remain together. I take it you would also like to accompany them, Princess?"

"Of course! That nightmare kidnapped my father!" Peach cried. "Let's use our Legendary to make a Portal!"

"**Alas, Princess. We can't!"** came a sudden response. Stuffwell then emerged from Mario's back pocket and approached her.

"It's the Beanstar," he said, opening himself so that the Beanstar could address Peach itself.

"Beanstar, what do you mean? You can fulfill any wish . . ."

"**Unless it were vetoed by a majority," **the entity told her. **"Indeed, we have the ability and would be more than happy to fulfill your wish if it were up to any single one of us, but your adversary has just recently used the four in his possession to deny us from assisting you in this regard. He said that it would make things too easy for you and desires to see if you can come up with something without any assistance from us."**

"Like my people's research?" asked the Shroob.

"**Exactly,"** responded the Beanstar.

"It looks like your opportunity has come sooner that any of us thought," Dreambert told the alien. "You said that your people's research was at the Vim Factory in the Toadwood Forest, so I guess that is where we have to go. I would actually be quite surprised if it works." Peach looked uneasily at the Pi'illo.

"But Dreambert," she said, "all the Shroob technology runs on vim. And vim was harvested from the Toads . . . which wasn't at all pretty! Mario and Luigi can certainly tell you how nightmarish that was, as they had to walk through that forest and witness it all firsthand on their way to the Factory."

"I remember reading about it," Toadette added. "It was horrible! The trees would catch unsuspecting Toads and start sucking the life out of them. And if they themselves didn't get caught directly, the Shroob Saucers would abduct Toads from all over the Kingdom, bring them by the dozens to the forest and entrap them themselves! I'm glad I wasn't around to see any of that; it was before my time. Are you sure we can't find some other way to get Luigi into the Dream World?" She looked over at Charlie.

The Shroob hung his head down and sighed. "Yes . . . it was despicable. But as Professor E. Gadd had mentioned earlier, I had no power whatsoever to change it. I was against the invasion from the start and was therefore seen as a freak for my compassion. But despite this, they still kept me on their team anyway for my expertise, _and_ because they knew that I _couldn't_ do anything about it! And look at where their aggressiveness got them! The Princess Shroob Sisters, my colleagues, all the Shrooboids and Shrooblets and other Shroobkind, all the mushrooms, _every_ last semblance of my people — all gone; eradicated; wiped off the face of the earth! . . . All except me. And why? Because I have this thing called _compassion _. . . mercy . . . a desire for coexistence . . . even _love!_ Things that no other Shroob I knew _ever_ seemed to understand." The party saw tears starting to form in his eyes. And then, perhaps the most unusual thing happened: Toadette walked up to the Shroob — and gave him a hug! Both of them bursting into tears there in the Castle's Throne Room.

"Aww . . . how touching!" Peach thought to herself. "How unexpected, too!"


	17. Chapter 16

_This is probably my favorite chapter in the story. I hope that some of you can understand why._

**Chapter 16**

Once the Shroob and Toadette were able to pull themselves together, the whole party — Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadette, Dreambert, Starlow, Charlie and Nerr T — headed on to the Toadwood Forest. Professor E. Gadd told them that he would join them shortly, as he had a couple of errands to do. They all hoped that solving the problem of getting the real Luigi into the Dream World would be the last obstacle before making their attempt to rescue the King . . . especially knowing that Dreamy Luigi, being somewhat of a doppelgänger, didn't possess the Thunderhand ability either.

"I understand that vim is needed to run all of our equipment," Charlie explained to them. "But before you guys arrived, I had talked with Professor E. Gadd on that subject as well. He told me that he had researched vim, too (I can't see how he has any spare time at all, by the way). He thinks, and hopes, that vim could be drawn in the same way as one draws blood. It seems that the Toads have the ability to regenerate any lost vim, and faster with the aid of baby's tears. The Toads could then do vim drives just like blood drives. It'd be a win-win scenario, right?"

"That remains to be seen, Charlie," the Princess told him.

Soon, the group found themselves back on the main road through the Toadwood Forest, the benevolent Shroob in the lead. About halfway through, the alien stopped in front of one particular, marked tree.

"This is a little hidden passageway that leads to the factory," he told them. "I believe it was used to ambush any Toads that they saw traveling along the main road, though traffic quickly ceased as soon as they realized what the trees did." Charlie reached his hand into a hollow in the tree and pulled a hidden switch. An entire tree shifted over to reveal a narrow, crooked pathway — hardly a few feet wide. "Come on, everyone. Follow me. It's kind of a maze (my people had to weave around a lot of stuff when they built it), but an astute observer could learn the landmarks pretty quickly and navigate it without difficulty." So everyone proceeded to clamber inside.

Toadette hesitated.

"Don't worry, Toadette," the Shroob consulted. "These trees have been deactivated for a long time. They're not gonna grab you."

"Nothing bad's gonna happen to you, Toadette. I'm sure of it!" Peach added. "We can do this!" And Toadette continued slowly behind them.

They soon reached a larger clearing with a single tree in the center. On the ground were three large buttons spaced a reasonable distance apart from each other.

"This is the final area," Charlie told them. "Beyond that gate there is the Vim Factory. It's gonna require teamwork to open." And to demonstrate it, the Shroob went over to one of the buttons and stood on it. One of the parts of the gate opened. However, it closed again as soon as their friend stepped off of it.

The alien continued. "As you can see, three Shroobs would each have to stand on one of those buttons over there while a fourth one would step through the gate and pull a switch on the other side that would keep the gate open for his colleagues to follow. You see, the three layers of the gate stay open only when someone is standing on the buttons. I think it was put in place to prevent any one or two Shroobs from acting alone . . . but I don't really see any reason why, as all of the Shroobs had been faithful to the Princesses and wouldn't do anything outside of his peers' knowledge. But then again, there is _me_ after all." Mario went over and stood on one of the buttons. The gate opened slightly in the split second that he was stepping on it but then closed again as soon as he was fully positioned on it.

"Hmm . . . it looks like you're too heavy, Mario," Charlie said. Mario looked down at his stomach. The Shroob chuckled. "No! I don't mean _that!_ I mean, _humans_ are too heavy to properly activate the buttons!" Mario then tried pressing the button with one foot. Still nothing happened.

"By the looks of it, you're gonna need to stand on the buttons with two feet in order to activate it," the Shroob commented. "They seem to have put humans into account. It must work like this: Three _Shroob-sized_ beings need to step on the buttons with two feet to get the gate parts to activate. But fortunately for us, we do! We have Toads on our team! Nerr T, Toadette, and I can all stand on the buttons while you two Superstars go to the other side and throw the switch."

"Then let's make it so, Mr. Shroobson," Peach said.

The three of them then went into position: Charlie took the switch on the west side, Toadette took the one in the center of the clearing, and Nerr T took the one on the north side. The door was now open.

"Alright! Now you guys go flip the switch on the other side," Charlie instructed them. "The gate will remain open as long as we are standing on the buttons." So the Bros went through and found the switch just as Charlie had said. Mario threw Cappy at it and flipped it, though it was significantly rusty from years of inactivity, and Cappy had to be careful not to break it. The gate pieces now slid fully into the wall.

"Whew!" Cappy breathed. "That was a lot harder to pull than I thought. But it looks like the gate's fully open now. Let's get going so —"

_"__**EEEEEEEE!"**_

"Uh oh!" That sounded like Toadette!" the Bonneton exclaimed, returning to his place on Mario's head. "Quick! Back to the others!"

Mario and Luigi then promptly returned to the clearing . . . and gasped!

The scream had indeed belonged to Toadette, for there she was — ensnared by the very tree that she had been standing next to!

"_**HELP ME!"**_ Toadette shrieked.

"I don't get it!" Charlie shouted. "I thought all the trees were deactivated! How?!" The Shroob darted over to Mario. "Mario, do you still have my blaster?" The plumber produced it and gave it back to him.

"This should free her," the Shroob said hurriedly. "If you fire enough energy blasts at one of these trees, it'll recoil and release anything they're holding. Here goes!" He quickly adjusted a setting and pulled the trigger. One small blast emerged, but to his dismay, nothing more.

"Oh no! My blaster's out of power!" he cried yet again. "Of all the luck! Mario, Luigi, we need to go to the Vim Factory and charge my blaster. There's a big charging station in the basement. The research facility is also located there. Don't fret, Toadette! We'll have you out of that soon enough!"

"Oh, _please_ _hurry!"_ Toadette exclaimed. "It really hurts! I'm already starting to feel weird!" Peach went over to her and clasped hands.

"I'll stay here with Toadette, you guys," the Princess said. "She needs some comfort. You guys do know why my Castle has that big stain-glass window with my profile on it, right? It was put there to act as a sign of comfort, and peace for the Toads. They see it, and it fills them with great hope. Go! Quick!" And off they went.

Upon entering the factory, their Shroob friend continued: "Do you remember that room with the big tree with the weird face on it that gathered all the vim from the trees in the Forest?" The Brothers hesitated. "Well, if you go through that room and take a left, you reach a dead end with a control panel at the opposite end. That control panel is the way to the basement." And when they reached it, the Shroob walked over to the panel and began typing into the keyboard. He spoke what must have been his Shroob name and some ID into the microphone, and to their left, a large concealed entrance appeared. "Let's go! There's no time to waste!"

Descending into the basement, they found that it was pitch black. They couldn't see anything. Mario walked straight ahead with his arms out and felt a short podium. He focused his Firebrand and found that it was a torch.

"I guess the lighting in the basement must have been cut off at some point," the Shroob postulated. "Fortunately, the doors are all rigged to a backup source in case anyone got trapped. Anyway, back to the task at hand. Through that door straight ahead is the research facility. We'll be going there soon. Right now, we're gonna go through this door on the left. The charging stations are through here." He went over to the button next to the door and pressed it somewhat violently. The doorway moved a small amount but then stopped.

"Ugh! This can _NOT_ be happening!" Charlie hollered in frustration. He slammed his fist hard into the fuse box on the opposite side and opened it. "How am I supposed to figure out what the problem is? It could take _days!_ Hey, you! Toadette's getting all her vim sucked out, you hear! Why can't you cooperate?!" He began hitting the door in despair. Luigi walked over and spoke to him.

"What's that? You're certain that your Thunderhand can open the door?" Luigi nodded. "But . . . you're a plumber, not an electrician . . ." Luigi was not deterred by this and asserted himself again.

"If you insist," Charlie replied. "But let me warn you: If it doesn't work and something goes wrong, Toadette is done for! Come here." Luigi walked over to the fuse box and looked in at all the electrical wires within the wall next to the box.

"Let me show you where to put your hands in order to avoid a short circuit," he instructed. "Be careful not to charge up too quickly; we don't wanna blow any fuses." The Shroob took Luigi's hands and studied the wires. "Okay . . . put one hand here, . . . and the other . . . er . . . here! Got 'em? Okay, let me check it one last time." He studied the circuit. "Okay, I think we're good! LET 'ER RIP!"

And so, Luigi began. He started small and slowly increased the voltage. The younger twin was half excited and half terrified; his actions here and now would mean life or death! The seconds passed in anticipation. And then, the door shuttered and began to move.

"YES! YES! A little bit more!" Charlie cried.

Finally, the door was fully ajar. The Shroob grabbed a hidden key from within the fuse box and locked the door in place. Success!

"You _did_ it, Luigi!" Charlie squealed in excitement. "You are absolutely _amazing_! Let's go!"

The room was filled with equipment of various natures. There were a handful of broken, rusted Shroids on the ground as well as mini Shroob saucers and time bombs that had been used by RC Shroobers. There were also a couple full-sized saucers with half-done maintenance. The most important observation was the corner of the room with dozens of broken Shroob blasters littering the ground and what looked like a charging station up against the wall. The benevolent Shroob went to this area, kicking aside some of the blasters on the ground that were in the way. Mario used his Firebrand and lit podiums as they came to them.

"I'm gonna need your Thunderhand again, Luigi," Charlie said. "The machine needs power, too. After all, you can't really use vim power to operate a machine that produces vim power! It wouldn't be at all practical without breaking the first law of thermodynamics! We obviously needed several methods of producing vim power . . . similar to your hydroelectric power, solar panels, windmills, or even nuclear fusion. The Swiggler was one of them for us and was convenient in producing vary large amounts efficiently for the Saucers, but there are a couple of others, including this machine here used for charging blasters."

The Shroob placed his blaster into one of the charging slots, then went over to the machine and turned on a nearby facet. In the first few seconds nothing happened, but it soon sputtered and finally yielded a flow of the mysterious vim. Luigi took the time to look at the strange fluid again. It was indeed a solid, translucent green with a viscosity similar to that of water. It also appeared to be fizzing slightly. The faucet dispensed several cups of the material before sputtering again.

"This is more than enough," Charlie said. He was about to dump it into the system when he suddenly heard something from within the liquid — voices!"

"Mario! Luigi! Listen to this!" he called. The trio all crowded around the container and tuned their ears to hear:

"_Hey! What's the deal? What did you do to my hotel? It looks like a corkscrew now!"_

"_But . . . the sea is fraught with danger! Fraught, I tell you! Hey, I'm not done talking!"_

"_That stupid Hammer Bro is destroying all my instruments! Get rid of him!"_

"_You need me! I won't take no for an answer!"_

_I wish I could go with you . . . I'm actually getting pretty good at this adventuring thing."_

"_With my brain and these guys' dexterity . . . Well, the possibilities are very exciting!"_

"_This is a job for a brave and braided genius . . . Toadette!"_

The three of them fell silent for several minutes.

"Is this . . . Toadette's vim?" Charlie said at last. The Brothers could give no response. "It has to be. That . . . that's her voice . . ." And he couldn't dump the entirety of the fluid in. Rather he only poured in about a quarter cup, then put the rest in a container. "She might wanna have this for posterity."

The Shroob then prompted Luigi to operate the machine. "This machine will convert the vim into energy, and it should only take a minute or two to charge my blaster." And at the alien's signal, Luigi began. The machine began to hum, powered by Luigi's Thunderhand. Mario was just standing and watching the unfolding scene. After a couple minutes, an LED flashed on Charlie's blaster.

"Done!" the Shroob announced, removing it. He gave it a test fire. "It's all set. Let's go back and save her!" The trio then returned towards the exit and back into the forest.

"This is really interesting," the alien commented as they left the complex. "We're about to free Toadette using her own vim! It's as if she were rescuing herself!" They soon found themselves back at the clearing. Upon seeing them, Princess Peach ran over to them, a look of utter terror on her face.

"Mario! Luigi! Charlie! Oh, it's horrible! Her . . . Toadette's color is _fading!_ This forest is worse than I ever imagined! Please save her!"

"P . . . please . . . help . . . !" Toadette managed to gasp.

"Did . . . did you guys get the blaster charged?" asked Nerr T. Nerr T was also observing the frightening scenario, though at a safe distance to avoid being entrapped by the tree himself. He was shaking all over, and tears were forming in his eyes.

"Yes we did, Nergle!" Charlie replied. "Everyone, stand back!"

He took out his blaster, pointed it at the tree, and fired; a rapid stream of energy blasts issued forth. After a few seconds, the tentacle-like branches finally recoiled and Toadette fell limp to the ground. Princess Peach went over and moved her away from the tree, bringing her to a sitting position.

"Thank you . . . thank you!" Peach wept. She went up and embraced them, and the five of them huddled together, enjoying each other's company.

"Well done!" came a familiar voice from the other end of the clearing. Everyone turned to behold the liver-spotted face of Professor E. Gadd. They all breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him. "I arrived just in time to witness our Shroob friend rescue Toadette. Fortunately, I came well prepared. I have whipped up vats full of baby's tears to return her to her young, exuberant self." Behind him came about a dozen ghosts carrying small trunks, presumably full of baby's tears formula. He pulled out a bottle and brought it to Toadette.

"My dear, drink this." The Professor opened one of the bottles and held it to her mouth. Toadette was still capable of drinking it on her own. In seconds, her pink color and strength returned, but she was still a little woozy.

"Thank you, Charlie!" she said. Getting up, she went over and hugged the Shroob again.

"Honest, Toadette," Charlie replied. "I really did believe that all the trees had —"

"Charlie, you're fine!" Toadette interrupted in assurance. "You don't need to apologize. I believe you. I had believed you before. Let's head in and finish you research."

"Before we do, I want to show you something." And the Shroob pulled out his container of vim, handing it to her.

"What's this stuff, antifreeze?" Toadette asked him, taking the container and examining it perplexingly.

"This is vim," Charlie answered her. "It's what we had left over."

"So this is what that tree was sucking out of me?" Toadette continued, an appalled look on her face. "How horrible!"

"Listen," Charlie said. "This isn't just any old vim! Toadette . . . this . . . this is _yours!"_

Toadette's heart skipped a beat.

"Mine?" she repeated. She looked again at the bright green, bubbling liquid. "The vim in this container . . . was from _me?"_ There was a short pause. "Does that mean . . ."

"Yes," the alien said plainly. "We used your own vim to free you! We heard your voice coming from it, too! Listen!" He opened the container, and she leaned in to hear. Tears began to form in her eyes, and she began to weep softly. Nerr T then walked up to her and put his arm around her. Toadette then turned and gave him a hug.

"Hey, Toadette, it's all in the past now!" He assured her. "You're alive and well. That's all that matters. Let's get started on that research, everyone!"

**XXXXXX**

The entire party then headed down to the research facility headed by the Shroob. As he had told them, the lab was down the other hallway. Entering his old workroom, he surveyed his surroundings nostalgically.

"This place hasn't changed a bit," he said. "Come on, Professor. Let's get started. First order of business is a controlled, non-lethal method of vim extraction!" And so it began.

After about fifteen minutes of listening to techno-babble by the three scientists, Princess Peach pulled up a table, chairs, and a deck of cards; and the four of them sat down in the next room and played rounds of Hearts. Later, Mario revealed an Italian card deck, and they then played Scopone. At the end of one round as Mario was computing high-card primes, Nerr T came out and went over to them.

"I think we've done it! Come —" he stopped upon seeing what they were doing. Scanning their cards momentarily, he then said, "Peach's team gets the high-card point. Come on over!"

"Wait," Toadette spoke up, facing him. "Did you just look at our cards and calculate the score? You couldn't have seen them for longer than a few seconds!" Nerr T looked at her.

"Yeah, so?"

"Nerr T, that was incredible!" she said. "Does autism really make you that smart?"

The Toad chuckled bashfully. "If you say so. I'm familiar with Scopa since I'd once played this PC game starring a teenaged sleuth who went to Venice. She had to wear a bunch of costume disguises, and once she met someone that would only discuss business with her if she won a game of Scopa. I think the case had to do with a stolen —"

"Okay, Nerr T! That's enough!" Starlow interrupted. "You don't have to go into detail. Just say that you saw it in a video game and leave it at that. That's all!"

"Sorry. Sometimes I do get carried away." He turned and faced his heroes. "Come on! I think we've reached a breakthrough!"

The four of them entered the lab to behold a makeshift prototype vim extractor. It appeared to be a chair rigged with several straps resembling that on a blood pressure device. There were tubes coming from each strap that converged and led to a big empty tank via a pump. The chair was also wired to one of the large computers. The Shroob and Professor E. Gadd were making final adjustments.

"And do you know what," Nerr T said. "I did most of the programming! The Professor did do some proofreading with a couple of minor adjustments, but it was otherwise all mine." He went over to the chair and sat down.

"To show how confident I am, _I'll_ be our first guinea pig!" Nerr T announced. "Strap me in!" His colleagues did so. The Professor gave him several bottles of baby's tears that he could drink from in case anything went wrong. The Shroob then turned on the machine. It hummed, and the quartet watched as the green liquid began to flow through the tubes and collect in the tank.

"It tingles, but it doesn't hurt," Nerr T told them. After a few minutes, when he began to feel woozy, he opened one of the bottles and began drinking.

"This stuff does wonders!" he continued. "It's extremely refreshing; and the best part is that it's super cheap to produce — maybe 1 coin for every 10 gallons! Or even less! I would expect so since the Professor had pumped many tens of thousands of gallons of it using his Hydrogush into those Time Holes." Soon, it had been a full fifteen minutes, and he appeared to be just fine. The group was astonishment to see the tank was now already half full! Where did it all come from?

"Ready to try it, Toadette?" Nerr T invited, finishing the bottle.

"Uh . . . okay."

The two Toads exchanged places. After strapping her in, they turned the machine on. Toadette was once again having her vim drawn, but this time, it was all controlled. She could now see the green fluid being extracted from herself and saw that it was quite a lot like drawing blood.

"This beats that tree by a longshot!" she said with ever-increasing confidence.

"You know, Toadette," Nerr T told her. "I feel just like you did when you designed and built those giant Papercraft creations. Didn't you once say, 'Sometimes my genius frightens even me'?" Toadette giggled.

Suddenly, the peace was interrupted by a barrage of magical blasts, scattering in all directions. It went on for nearly a minute, and when it ended, most everyone in the room had been hit and knocked out by it, including Toadette. Additionally, a number of charges had made contact with the extraction machine destroying the cutoff switch and screwing up the programming, sending the extraction process haywire. Only Princess Peach was left standing, as she had managed to deflect any blasts heading for her using her own magical abilities, and she was also the most resistant to it. The Princess looked over at where she figured the source of the discharges had come from. In the next moment, she saw the culprit reveal himself. It was Kamek!

"My, my, aren't you guys in a pickle now!" he cackled.

"Kamek!" Peach shouted, increasingly annoyed by his presence. "What are you doing here?"

"Causing a little mischief, of course!" he said. "I figured that this would be good enough of a revenge for the way all of Toadette's Papercraft creations kept destroying mine! I'd say having her vim extracted again would be fun to watch! Serves her right! If you value her life, maybe we can —"

"What do you mean, 'again'?" Peach snapped. "Were you there when Toadette was caught by that tree?" And then the Princess abruptly recalled a tiny detail that she had seen from when they had first set foot in that clearing. It looked like small traces of magical influence at the base of the tree, but she had cast it aside as a mirage. "Did _YOU_ cause that tree to activate?!"

"My goodness, how perceptive you are!" Kamek laughed aloud. "Of _course_ it was I! And it was very simple, too. I didn't have any time to watch the spectacle unfold, unfortunately. I was called back by Bowser."

"You're so mean!" Peach scolded. "Don't you realize how much she went through? Please stop this masochism this instant!"

"Thank you! I do very much love your compliments, sweetie," Kamek responded sadistically. "But why should I? You know what, maybe we could work out a deal . . ."

"Don't you be thinking that we're gonna just hand over our Legendary, you creep!" Peach countered in rage.

"Oh, thank you _so_ much for your heart-warming compliments!" Kamek said. He really did appear to be touched by her words. "I guess I'll just have to take them myself. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of the Koopa magicks!"

Peach found this battle to be much harder than last time, as she did not have Toadette to fight with and use Bros Attacks with. But she stood firm and, in the end, took the Magikoopa down.

"_NOOO!"_ Kamek wailed. "How could I lose to you again?!" And with a magic spell, he disapparated.

With Kamek out of the way, Peach could now focus on tackling all the mischief he had caused. She shrieked upon seeing that Toadette's color had completely faded! Her coloration was now nothing but shades of brown — shades that matched that of the trees outside.

"Is this what happened to the Toads in the Past?" she shuttered. "They would have been essentially assimilated by those trees? To become _part_ of them?" And Peach began to weep in despair.

As Peach was kneeling there, a small ball rolled into her field of vision and got her attention . . . it was one of Nerr T's Poké Balls, though this one had been painted blue. The ball suddenly grew in size and opened, and whatever being that was inside it emerged. To Peach's utter shock, it was Nerr T!

"Princess Peach! What happened?" he asked her. "I hid inside my ball as soon as I realized we were being attacked. Who . . . _**OH NOOO!"**_ The young Toad ran over to the machine, horrified not only to see Toadette's vim being extracted at a dangerously high rate, but also to see that the cutoff switch was destroyed as well. He then went over to the keyboard and tried to shut it down though the programming, but to no avail.

"It . . . it's _stuck!"_ he cried. "And Charlie and the Professor are out for the count! I'm . . . I'm on my own . . ." And he began to shiver in fear.

"Come on, pull yourself together, Nergle!" he muttered to himself. "You can do this! Princess, don't unstrap Toadette when the machine is on. It could cause very severe, possibly lethal, damage to her. How would you like it if someone pulled out the needle while you were giving blood and causing you to bleed profusely?" He studied the code being displayed in desperation. Peach did what she could to revive the other two in case the ASD couldn't figure it out. The seconds ticked by. But as one particular routine showed itself, Nerr T's face brightened in revelation.

"That . . . _that's it!_ Of course! Why had I not noticed that from the start?" He began to type even more frantically. As time continued marching onward relentlessly, Nerr T finally broke through! The machine's humming stopped. It was only then that the Princess managed to revive the Professor.

"Nerr T! You did it!" she cried. "You figured it out on your own! I'm so proud of you!" And after giving the ASD a hug, the Princess was finally able to unstrap Toadette from the machine. Mario and Luigi had now recovered and were looking around. The Princess explained what had happened to everyone.

"Nerr T," Professor E. Gadd began. "You stopped the machine by yourself?" The Toad nodded shyly.

"It was apparently a very subtle glitch caused by Kamek's magic," Nergle told him. "I'm a little surprised myself to have found it so quickly."

"I must say! I am immensely impressed!" E. Gadd said. "You are perhaps the brightest Toad I've ever met in all my days — and that's saying something! I'm so proud of you!" He then shook hands with the Toad who blushed at the Professor's praise. "Let's go revive Toadette."

Taking another bottle of baby's tears, he found that this time he had to pour some of it onto her head as she was much too weak to swallow and was barely able to breathe at all. Later on, they found that Nerr T's timing was even more critical than they suspected, as the extraction would have killed her if it had gone on for even thirty seconds longer. It took at least fifteen minutes before she was capable of drinking and another ten minutes more before her color returned to its usual deep pink, and it took longer still for her to think straight and talk to the rest of her friends.

"What happened," she finally managed to say after over half an hour.

"Kamek snuck in on us and knocked everyone but Nerr T and me out. The machine had been hit by one of his magic blasts and it began to malfunction. It was sucking out all your vim uncontrollably. For the longest time, we thought it had killed you! I never would have thought that Kamek would resort to something like this to achieve his goals. Anyway, I took down Kamek pretty soundly, and Nerr T managed to stop the machine . . . all by himself!"

Toadette looked over at him. "Nerr T . . . you saved my life?" The ASD nodded shyly. "Thank you!" And she went over to him and gave him a solid kiss on the cheek. Nerr T blushed deeply, and this made Toadette giggle.

"Awww shucks! It was nothing!"

And last but not least, Charlie finally came to, just in time to see Toadette kiss Nerr T. He chuckled on seeing her growing affection for the ASD.

"Princess, what happened? Did we get ambushed?" he asked her.

"It was Kamek," Peach replied. "He was up to no good again. But Nerr T and I both took care of things."

"Was Kamek the guy on the broomstick you were telling me about?" the Shroob inquired.

"Yes, that was him," she responded. "Would you like to continue your research now?"

"Yes, that would be nice," Charlie answered. "We have a whole tank full of vim to use now. That should be plenty for what we need. I'll go pull up our Dream World research." And as the Shroob went over to retrieve it, he had an additional thought: "I never thought that we could completely fill a tank with the vim of just two Toads! Its properties are very mysterious!"

**XXXXXX**

Several hours elapsed as the quartet let the scientists do their thing. Every so often, one of them would peek inside to see how they were doing. Most of the time, they would find the three of them writing stuff down and talking amongst themselves without ever changing. They had grown tired of the card games and were at the point of simply twiddling their thumbs.

"Princess Peach," came the voice of Prince Dreambert. He was looking at the jar filled with Toadette's vim. The green liquid within was still warm and fizzing lightly. "I don't think I have ever seen this side of your Mushroom People before. That which the alien called vim must give Toads some special abilities if it is used as power."

"I would think so," Peach answered. "But I don't have a concise idea what it might be, though. They do have some abilities that take off of mushrooms, and they can release spores. I've used a Toad as a shield in this alternate dimension where I go battle with a large group of fighters. We've come to like to get together to have a friendly tussle. It's quite fun!"

"Perhaps the Toads simply haven't nourished this ability to its greatest potential, if at all," Dreambert postulated.

"Maybe not," she responded. "Maybe someday one of them will."

"If I may add, Princess, I feel as if I haven't played much of a role in your adventure," Dreambert added. "I had originally come along as a means to help you get into the Dream World; but now that we have learnt that the real Luigi is needed, I feel like _I_ am no longer needed."

"We do still enjoy your company," Starlow told him.

"However, I should like to make sure that the Dream Stone and the Dark Stone are salvaged from the one you call Wart before I go."

"You're free to stick around, Dreambert," Peach said. "Your people are all at ease knowing that you're with us. Who knows, maybe you will contribute something!"

"Perhaps. But I suppose we will have to simply wait and see." Then Dreambert suddenly realized something. "Princess, where did you get that parchment that you showed to Nerr T?"

"Oh, I guess I never actually told you," she admitted. "It was in a chest that my father had in his study. When the King had been abducted by those Sapians, he hinted to me that I should go to his study and open that chest to retrieve the parchment. He must have known that that it would lead to the Toadstool Gem, but I can't imagine how he could have."

"How did he convey this hint to you without arousing the suspicion of his captors?" Dreambert asked.

"He used an inside information method. When I was about ten years old, I had gone into my father's study, encountered the chest, and opened it. I remember his expression that day; he looked utterly shocked. It seemed a little out of place for that particular situation. It couldn't have been simply from seeing me in his study. There must have been something else."

"Perhaps he will explain it when we rescue him," Dreambert said.

"I hope so."

In the next few minutes, they heard Nerr T from the other room. "Hey guys! We did it! Come on in and take a look!" When they entered the room, there before them was a fully functioning Dream Portal! Dreambert's jaw dropped uncontrollably.

"Congratulations, all of you!" Peach encored. "Mario, Luigi, Toadette, let's all go rescue my father and put an end to Wart once and for all!"

"And in the meantime," Charlie added. "We'll remain here continuing our research. We want to try to make a _handheld_ Dream Portal generator. Good luck everyone!"

"Hey, Nerr T," said the Professor. "How about you go tag along with them. You don't need to be here the whole time helping us. I'll say you've done more than your fair share of work — what with rescuing Toadette from certain death and all. You deserve a break! Go out on an adventure!"

"Thanks Professor!" the ASD said, walking over to Mario and company. "See you soon!"

And the eight of them all jumped into the Portal.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Travelling through Subcon once more, they soon found themselves back at the capital, and upon reaching its limits, the Subcon all crowded around their expanded group in curiosity at the new faces before them. They were surrounded by the time they reached the town circle.

"Mario! You're back! And you've brought some more friends!" they all said.

"Oh, you guys are so adorable!" Toadette giggled. "Can I get a hug?" A braided Subcon girl with a bright pink onesie hovered over and gave her one.

"Your people are adorable, too! I love your braids!" the Subcon responded. The two of them both laughed aloud.

"Yes, very good," Peach said. "Let's head over to the King of Subcon now Toadette."

"Good luck on your quest!" the Subcon called out to them as they left.

It didn't take long for the message of the heroes' arrival to reach Osama. When they arrived at the entrance, they saw him come out to greet them.

"Welcome back, everyone!" he said. "It looks like you've found your way in. Congratulations!"

Peach stepped forward and gave him a bow followed by Mario and Luigi, caps removed . . . though for Mario, Cappy had assumed his true form and tried to bow, too. Dreambert then stepped up next to them and bowed in turn.

"Welcome back, Prince Dreambert," the King addressed. "Good to finally see you in person."

"And I you," the Pi'illo replied.

Starlow then hovered over to them and tried to bow. "Hello, Your Majesty. I'm Starlow. It's really cool to finally be here."

"You are a Star Sprite, aren't you?" the monarch said.

"Yes!" she replied. "Though this is my first time here in the Dream World. When Mario and Luigi went to Pi'illo Island, I always stayed outside and manipulated Luigi's moustache or his big, honkin' nose. It caused something to happen in the Dream World when I did that . . . Wish I could have gotten to see what it did."

"Interesting!" the King replied. "Now what about your Toad friends?" Toadette looked over at Nerr T affectionately, then reached out and took him by the hand and they walked up to Osama, who looked them over. "Neither of you were the Toad that accompanied Mario the last time he was here."

"That would be my big brother!" Toadette said gaily.

"Really now?" the monarch said. "Who might you be, precious?"

"I'm Toadette! It's an honor to meet you, Your Majesty!" and she curtseyed. The King of Subcon chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"And your friend?"

"I'm Nerr T, Your Highness" the ASD addressed, bowing. "I helped Mario and company create the Dream Portal that got real Luigi here."

"Well done!" Osama praised. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. You have quite a party here with you this time."

"Your Majesty, we are ready to go in and save my father." Peach announced.

"Then there's no need to take up any more of your time," the King said. He led them all into the rear courtyard, where the entrance to Subspace was. "Your journey ends through here, everyone. Make every moment count. We put you in our hopes and prayers. Go!" And in they went.

**XXXXXX**

The group took a good look around. Subspace seemed to be in a state of perpetual twilight, and they saw many of Wart's 8-bits roaming the area. Toadette started shivering, cold and a feeling of unrest beginning to envelop her. But she did her best to pull herself together, thinking of the many times before that she had been in such a frightening scenario and triumphed.

As they walked through the darkness exploring the vicinity, they encountered a Sapian tied up securely inside one of the dark structures.

"M . . . mushrooms! More mushrooms!" he cried. He stuck out his long tongue to catch Toadette again. Fortunately for her, she was a little bit too far away for him to reach, but she did let out a yelp upon seeing the creature's tongue come within a foot of her face. Mario, Luigi, and Peach all stepped out in front of her to shield their friends.

"Is that the toad that ate you, Toadette?" Nerr T asked looking at her.

"Undoubtedly!" she said, instinctively putting her arms around him and holding him tightly. Toadette had only known the ASD for a couple days, but she was already feeling a deep connection to him as if they had been dating for a long time. The sensation of clasping him and the pressure in doing so felt immensely satisfying and comforting, putting her at ease in a way that she had never experienced before.

"You're not eating any more Toads, Glip!" Peach snapped. The creature looked solemn. "Where can we find your Master? He's expecting us."

"Follow the northern path," Glip answered. "Master's fortress awaits you . . . . . . mushrooms . . . . . ."

"Thank you, Glip," Peach said to him. "At least we can say that you've done something for us. Come on everyone! Let's go take care of Wart and rescue my father!"

As they traveled down the road, they encountered several small fortresses along the route. Not sure what the group would find, the four heroes went in first while Nerr T, Prince Dreambert, and Starlow waited for them just outside. Upon entering, the door behind them abruptly closed on them! Reaching the other end, the four heroes saw that the door on that side was also closed shut. They were trapped inside! As there was nowhere else to go, they all returned to the entrance.

"Guys! We're trapped!" Peach cried out.

"What on earth could we possibly do about it?" Nerr T asked her.

"Go back to Subcon and ask Osama where this fortress is in Subcon and whether there's anything different there that can change something," Peach told him. "Whatever you do in Subcon will affect Subspace, too! Go on!"

"I will go," Dreambert told them. "Perhaps this is the time where I can be of assistance. You will be freed soon enough, Princess." And he quickly returned to Subcon. Nerr T followed him close behind.

"Here, Nerr T," Starlow said, hovering just over him. "Grab my foot and I'll carry you over all those enemies." The ASD did so.

**XXXXXX**

Osama was still there looking at the portal having been joined by his Commander when the three of them appeared from within.

"Did something happen, Dreambert?" the King asked.

"They are all trapped inside a dark fortress," the Pi'illo responded. "Upon stepping inside the structure, the door shut behind them. Is there an equivalent fortress here in Subcon?"

"There is," the Commander said. "It looks like he built his domain along the northern road. Go down that way and look for something that can open the doors there. Their counterparts in Subspace should also open."

As Dreambert was about to head off, another Dream Portal appeared right next to them. Professor E. Gadd stepped out and was quite surprised to see the King there, since Osama was human.

"Well, well! Who's this?" the King said upon seeing the elderly figure.

"I am Professor Elvin Gadd," the scientist replied bowing.

"Well it's quite a surprise to see you here, Professor," said Osama. "Were you another one of the scientists that brought Mario and Luigi here to Subcon?"

"I was indeed!" he replied. "That was perhaps my greatest breakthrough yet! It's a nice turn of pace to work on some recreational stuff outside of the ghost research."

"Recreational?" the Commander pondered. "Inventing a Dream Portal generator is recreational?" E. Gadd nodded. "You must really like science to do all that for fun."

"I also own a bean juice restaurant chain to help me fund for it," the Professor added. "It's called Starbeans Café. You should try it sometime! It's quite refreshing!"

"I will let you know if I ever take a trip to the Real World, Professor Gadd," the King replied. "Why have you come?"

"I wanted to give our heroes some special Dream World communicators that I just invented to help them on their quest." E. Gadd replied.

"What impressive timing," Dreambert said. "The four of them are all trapped in a dark fortress, and I am going out to find the same fortress here in Subcon."

"Indeed! How fortuitous!" the Professor said. He handed Dreambert one of his communicators. "Here, Nerr T. Take this special device back to Stuffwell. It will give him the ability to communicate with me and Dreambert here."

"I will, Professor!" Nerr T said zealously. Taking the device along with a couple of communicators, he stepped back into the portal to Subspace.

"Good luck, Prince Dreambert," the Professor said, stepping back through his Dream Portal.

Subcon was quite peaceful, as Dreambert never encountered anything hostile on his way and soon did encounter a fortress along the northern path. Stepping inside, the door did not close behind him. At the other end, the Pi'illo found, to his great surprise, a large rectangular cavity on the floor right in front of the door. It didn't seem to serve any purpose. He stared at it in disbelief; it was just about the right size for him to fit inside.

"No . . . could it be?" the Pi'illo postulated. He assumed his pillow form, slipped into it, and saw the door open. "This seems too coincidental."

At that moment in Subspace, the four heroes saw the door onward open for them. Dreambert was successful! In the next few minutes, they saw Nerr T running up to them with Starlow right above.

"The doors are open!" he shouted. "We can keep going! Dreambert must have found it!"

"What have you got there, Nerr T?" Peach asked him.

"I saw the Professor back at Subcon," Nerr T told them, "and he gave me these communicators for you guys to use. I also have a special unit to be installed into Stuffwell." The suitcase emerged from Mario's back pocket upon hearing this.

"Would you like to install it now?" Stuffwell asked him. He opened himself to reveal his internal circuitry. The Bros both marveled at its complexity. Nerr T studied it before finding the slot he needed. He inserted a tiny chip the size of a small pill into it using a pair of tweezers. He put the physical unit, which was the size of a dime and connected by a series of tiny wires to the chip, into a small slot not far away from it. He saw a tiny LED flash on it in the next moment.

"Installation successful. I am now receiving a transmission from both the Professor and Prince Dreambert," the suitcase said. He switched to his internal monitor, where the image of the Professor filled the screen.

"Good work, Nerr T my boy!" the Professor said. "I'll be able to communicate with you guys now!"

"I may have finally found a means of assisting you, Brothers," Dreambert told them. "There was a cavity on the ground in the form of a large rectangle, just the right size for a Pi'illo to rest on. I held my position there, as I did not know whether the door would stay open if I got up. But a few minutes ago, the cavity rose to be flush with the rest of the floor, and I realized that you must have done something. After getting up, the door stayed open."

"That's wonderful Dreambert!" Toadette told him. "You've found your place on the team! We all have! Let's keep going, everyone!"

And soon, after traversing several more fortresses in the same manner, they eventually reached a lodge with purple-flamed torches on both sides of the doorway. They all must have traveled very deep into Subspace, for the lighting seemed to be even darker there at the lodge than it had been when they first stepped inside the dimension. However, it was that which was in front of the doorway that caught their attention more. It was the familiar face of a villain that they hadn't seen in seemingly forever. It was . . .

"_YOU!"_ Princess Peach snapped in a fit of rage. She stepped forward to face her adversary. "Where's my father, you giant bullfrog?!"

Wart simply stared at them all with an excited expression on his pudgy face. He took a step forward and faced them.

"Welcome to Subspace, everyone!" he addressed. "It has been a long time, hasn't it? _Much_ too long, I should say! Congratulations everyone on making it all the way here even without the aid of your much-coveted Legendary. It warms my heart to finally tangle with all of you again!" He scanned their party and chuckled. "I see you've gotten several extra members with you. Two new Toad friends and a Star Sprite. You've amassed quite a mighty group of heroes here with you. _Very_ good!"

"That's enough with the sarcasm, you jerk!" Toadette shouted.

"Ah, you must be Toad's bratty little sister!" Wart sneered. "If it weren't for those braids of yours, I'd never be able to tell the two of you apart!" Toadette scowled at him. She had only just met the frog, and she already hated his guts.

Wart sighed. "I'm just not in the mood to fight you guys just yet. This is not the sort of place to have a final battle. It's much too quaint! I want to test your mettle first. Come, my pretties!" And suddenly a trio of Birdos appeared before them.

"Seriously? Birdos?" Peach shouted. "I remember these creatures well. We can take them out in a second!"

"Really?" Wart asked. He revealed his four Legendary for them to see and shot a blast at the Birdos. In seconds, they grew about twice their size and seemed to be flooded with energy. "Care to rephrase that?"

"We can _still_ take them out!" Toadette cried confidently.

"If you need me, I'll be at that big stone complex over there atop its highest tower. I think that's a much better place to settle our score, right? It may be a little bit of a cliché, but it's very dramatic . . . wouldn't you agree? See you soon!" And he disapparated before them.

The quartet then engaged the Birdos in battle. Nerr T, being of no help in a battle, simply stood back on the sidelines to watch everything and taking pictures (including selfies) and videos with his smartphone. He couldn't send it immediately to his friends since there was no internet connection in Subspace.

"This is awesome!" he shouted excitedly. "I can't believe I'm actually witnessing this firsthand! This is so much different than watching all those videos! I can't wait to tell my friends about how I observed the Mario Brothers in action! . . . even if it is only from the sidelines."

The quartet found that these Birdos were much more powerful than they had thought, having been charged with the energy of four Legendary. But they managed to stand their ground and inflict heavy blows on them to the point in where they were just about beaten. But at that moment that the Birdos were weakening, they conglomerated with each other, embraced each other in a group hug and suddenly began to levitate and spin around very quickly. Before the adventurers knew what was happening, they were hit by an immense, powerful blast. The Birdos had turned into a living laser cannon! In the next moment, all four were out on the ground, fainted. Nerr T watched all of it in utter terror. Thinking fast, he darted over to Mario and grabbed Stuffwell. The Birdos observed this and began to give chase as they knew that the three Legendary that the party had collected were in that suitcase. But Starlow also assisted Nerr T in his escape. The ASD reached up with one hand and grabbed Starlow's foot. The Star Sprite then rose into the air and out of the Birdos' grasp. With a look of annoyance, they then returned to their captives and carried them off towards the great fortress.

"What are we gonna do, Starlow?" Nerr T asked the Star Sprite in desperation as they were flying.

"We have to go rescue them," she responded reluctantly. "What else can we do?"

"But . . . I have no experience fighting enemies," Nerr T objected. "I'll bet the place is filled with them. They'd take me out in a second if I got anywhere near them!"

"Why don't we at least head over to that fortress," said Starlow. "That appears to be where those Birdos took Mario and company to. I can carry you over there to avoid any enemies."

"Okay," Nerr T said. "I guess we don't really have a choice at this point." And with Nerr T holding on as tightly as he could to her foot, Starlow flew off towards their adventure's final destination.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Starlow lowered Nerr T down to the ground at the entrance to Wart's fortress where the doorway opened invitingly for them. They looked out toward its tallest tower, marveling its height. The ASD also noticed as they entered that this complex did not have any lava pools for a floor . . . as was unexplainably common in so many of Bowser's castles that Mario had traveled through. Walking into the first chamber, they saw that there were indeed enemies there, but their nature was quite surprising.

"Goombas and Shy Guys?" Nerr T said in surprise. "Does Wart really think I'm that helpless? I . . . I think I can take them out." Walking over to a Goomba, he engaged it in battle and defeated it quite easily.

"Hey . . . that was actually kind of fun," he murmured. "Fun and exhilarating! I could get used to this!" And with ever increasing confidence, he wandered the chambers looking for his friends.

He soon reached an area with what looked like a series of prison cells. As he had found a key in his wandering, he went down the rows of doors to see if it'd fit in any and was quite relieved to find that it did indeed open one of them. Inside he found Toadette tied up on the ground; she was still out cold. Untying her, he took out a 1-Up Mushroom that he had also found and fed it to her, and she was revived.

"Nerr T!" she exclaimed. "You saved me again!" She ran over, gave him a big hug, and kissed him on the cheek again.

"Heh heh! No problem!" he said. "Hey, I unwittingly recorded the Birdos shooting that beam at you guys." He played it for her.

"Cool! Something else to show your friends, I guess!" she said. "Now you can say that you saved us, too!"

"I guess so," he said. "Let's go find the others."

And as the two Toads continued to explore the area, they found Yoshi trapped in one of the cells. They freed their asexual dinosaur friend and revived him with a melon that they'd found.

"Thank you so much, guys!" Yoshi cheered. "I've been stuck here for about a week. I think those toad men tricked me into eating a fruit rigged with . . . _something_ . . . as the next thing I knew, I found myself here. That melon was perhaps the tastiest thing that I've had since I've been in this place."

"Well, we're glad to see that you're okay," Toadette told him. "Come on! We're trying to free the rest of our team."

They soon came to a large door that appeared to lead to the next floor with short podiums on either side. They had a large hollow in it. On seeing it, Yoshi had an idea, but he seemed a little shaken by it.

"Forgive me, but . . ." And then Yoshi turned . . . and swallowed Toadette! Nerr T was horrified (as he had also recorded it), but in the next instant, he breathed a sigh of relief to find that _this_ time, it was simply Yoshi's egg lay ability, as the egg was deep pink with white spots to match that of the Toad it contained. He knew that Toadette was unharmed.

However, before he could take another breath, Nerr T found _himself_ caught by Yoshi's tongue and swallowed as well — phone included! He could never adequately describe after that the strange feeling of slipping down Yoshi's throat, into his stomach, then encased in an egg within a span of two seconds. At least it wasn't painful. Yoshi took the eggs containing Nerr T and Toadette and placed them on the podiums, and the door opened. The eggs then cracked open, and both Toads fell to the ground, dizzy.

"Ugghhh . . . that was reeeeeealy weird . . ." Nerr T muttered, dazed. "And I think I might have caught it all on video, too! Toadette, w . . . was this anything like —"

"No, that wasn't anywhere the same as being eaten by that toad," she said. "Yoshi, couldn't you have at least warned us that you needed eggs?"

"Sorry," Yoshi apologized. "It was a spur of the moment thing." And after exploring the lower floors of the fortress, the three of them soon found all their teammates and revived them.

"Thank you, all!" Peach said upon being liberated.

"Ultimately, it was Nerr T that saved us!" Toadette told her. "He managed to escape with Starlow and Stuffwell before coming here to this fortress."

"Nerr T?" Peach repeated. She looked at the ASD. "That must have been very scary, seeing all of us faint like that. I'm so proud of you! That was a very brave thing you did back there." Nerr T bowed bashfully.

"I'm gonna try to find a way out of this place," said Yoshi. "Good luck everyone!"

After multiple chambers of puzzles, they reached a large empty one that caught their attention . . . for at the other end of it was none other than the Mushroom King! He was gagged and tied to a chair and appeared to have been significantly malnourished.

"FATHER!" Peach cried, appalled at the lack of proper treatment and respect. "What have they done to you?!"

She took a step towards him instinctively . . . but stopped. Something didn't seem right; it appeared that his captors _wanted_ her to go out and care for him, which could explain the malnutrition. There was a look of fear in his eyes, and when he saw them, he began to struggle weakly against his bonds shouting frantically at them, voice being impaired by the gag at his mouth. It was too easy.

"Trap," the Princess muttered. Taking a large, heavy boulder laying nearby, she tossed it ahead of them with the help of Mario and Luigi. The moment the rock hit the stone floor, it suddenly crumbled to reveal a large gaping hole. They heard splashing as the boulder and bricks all hit water.

"Definitely a trap," she said. "Who knows what that was down there. It could have been poison, too." She looked over at her father, who was relieved upon seeing Peach figure it out. He had a look of pride on his face despite being gagged — proud to see his daughter's wisdom prevail over her instincts in the face of adversity. "Father, I'll come back for you. We _shall_ bring Wart down!"

So Peach was forced to leave her father behind and deal with Wart first. As soon as he and his 8-bit minions were out of the way, however that would be, they could focus on liberating the King without interruption. Farther on in the same structure, the party found the three giant Birdos standing in their path, ready to challenge them again. They all honked in laughter.

"Well, hello there!" one of them said. "You've come a long way!"

"You've got a lot of nerve to make it this far," another one said. "Don't you ever give up?"

"I _know!"_ Toadette said sarcastically. "I'll bet it's really, _really_ annoying! You should be used to it by now!" The party then engaged them in battle.

The battle continued more or less in the same manner as before. After some time, the Birdos conglomerated again.

"You guys don't seem to learn, do you?" the third Birdo told them. "We can take you all out in an instant with our Mega Birdoblast just like before! Need a refresher?" And they began to implement their cannon again.

But at that moment, Toadette walked up to her assailants. She had begun to feel a welling up within her being and felt compelled to step out in front of her comrades. The Birdos noticed this and were perplexed by it, then decided since she was coming out voluntarily to face them that they would focus their blast entirely on her, believing that it wouldn't make any difference. They discharged, and Toadette took on its full effect. But this time, she was not immediately knocked out and she noticed that, as long as she was embracing this feeling, it felt very different from last time. It was draining her health somewhat, but it also felt like she had become supercharged herself. Focusing, she suddenly let out a powerful stream of spores! It knocked the startled Birdos off their feet and out cold before they could register what had happened. Everyone gasped.

"Wow!" Starlow cried. "Toadette! I never knew that you had that kind of power!"

"What power?" Toadette asked, her head still spinning. It was only then that she noticed the Birdos all laying there on the ground, wasted. "Did I do that?"

"You took them all out!" Peach cried.

Toadette then concentrated to try to bring it out again. She finally did muster something, but it was only in a very small spray.

"Maybe you need to take damage," Peach told her. "I know of several fighters that had powerful attacks that they could pull off if they took enough hits. There's this one teenaged boxer that can deliver the nastiest uppercut I know of after taking a good deal of damage. It must be the same with you."

"I guess we'll have to see whenever we have our next battle," said Toadette.

Indeed, it wasn't long at all before they did have their next battle. When they finally reached the central tower — their journey's end at its turret, and entered the first room, they at first found it completely empty. However, in the next few moments, they saw a source of what looked like dark matter begin to disperse from the very center almost like carbon dioxide gas subliming from an unidentifiable source of dry ice. It rose into the air to form a great purple cloud, and the whole party gasped upon seeing an old enemy appear from within; an enemy that they thought they had rid themselves of a long time ago: It was none other than Cackletta!

"_Rebirth!"_ she shouted triumphantly. It took a moment before she saw the party . . . then begin cackling true to her name. "Mario! Green Guy! Princess Peach! What a pleasant surprise!"

"It's Cackletta!" Nerr T shouted. "I thought you guys destroyed her when you went to the Beanbean Kingdom?" He then quickly snapped a picture of her on his smartphone.

"It looks like you've made some new friends since our last encounter!" she said. In the next instant, the party looked to see another shape coming out of the dark cloud: a little black bug with big swirly red eyes. It also sported a big toothy smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Oh, great Cackletta!" it shouted. "I am having the joys of seeing you living and well!"

"'Having the joys' . . ." Nerr T repeated, thinking about this strange tidbit of grammar. "That . . . that's Fawful!" The bug gave a gigantic trademark grin.

"Your fink Toad companion has correct guessings!" said Fawful. "He is figuring it out as pasta noodles are being dropped on the floor from the trippings of a chef who is clumsy!"

"Fawful!" Cackletta cried upon seeing her "most best pupil" in such a degenerative state. "Oh, what on earth happened to you?!"

"I have been having the schemings, oh great Cackletta!" he replied. "I was spreading my fury out on the Mushroom Kingdom like butter on a grilled cheese sandwich. And the Dark Star was that delicious cheese — the cheese of darkness on a sandwich of evil by the cookings of a stove of geniousness!" The quartet of heroes then saw the dark cloud envelop their freakish Beanish, and soon found Fawful reverted to his familiar robed self.

"_I HAVE FURY!" _he screamed. "Let us be trouncing these fink rats like ranch dressing on a salad of victory!" The dark cloud then spawned Fawful's uncanny headgear device.

"Your grammar is extremely annoying!" Toadette snapped. "I'd like to see you try!"

The whole battle seemed to be aimed toward nostalgia, as many of their attacks were otherwise unchanged from before in the Beanbean Kingdom. It was made even more interesting halfway through, when the dark cloud enveloped them both and enhance them into more familiar and powerful forms. Fawful was upgraded to Dark Fawful . . . while Cackletta became Bowletta! This made it even more certain that the battle was intended to have them relive old tussles. And after a long battle, the quartet finally took out their familiar foes, who vanished in a dark purple cloud of smoke. The door opposite them then opened invitingly.

"That takes care of them," Peach said. " Let's head to the next level and await our next opponent."

And one by one, level by level, the four of them faced and took out their assailants. Many of them were just as familiar as Cackletta and Fawful while others not so much _(Author's Note: These bosses will be determined by a poll)_. They fought one powerful boss after another at each consecutive story and brought it down. They knew they had finally reached the end of the boss blitz when they found a large, decorative chamber on the next floor with a Save Block and an elevator on the opposite end of the room rather than stairs.

"This is it, everyone!" Cappy said in excitement. "It all comes down to this."

"Is everyone ready?" Peach inquired. "No matter what lies ahead, no matter how powerful Wart may be, we MUST be victorious! That's how it's always been, and I know in my heart that it _always_ will be that way!"

"Well said, Princess!" Toadette cried. "We're with you through and through and prepared for anything! Right guys?" There were jumps and thumb-ups in affirmation. "This is for all the Mushrooms! Let's do this!"

And after making final checks to rest assured that they were well prepared and saving their progress, they then stepped onto the elevator and were carried upwards to the prophetic finale.


	20. Chapter 19

_At last! The final battle . . . the penultimate chapter . . . And what a coincidence that I would publish it on Halloween night — aka, the launch day for _Luigi's Mansion 3_! I do believe that this battle is quite diverse, as it is very serious, dramatic, powerful, heart-wrenching (hopefully) and yet still be very funny as well. This is the chapter that I have been wanting to hear feedback on the most . . . ever since I started writing it back in May. I hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

**Chapter 19**

"And here they are!" came the voice of Wart as they all surfaced on the great turret. "Emerging victorious in all manners of trials just as I remember all too well!"

"Same here," came the accompaniment of none other than Bowser, who was standing next to him. "Their persistence drives me insane!"

"Ugh! Do you really expect us to fight both of you?" Princess Peach said in annoyance.

"But then it wouldn't be fun, Toadstool!" said Wart jestingly. "Nor would it be fair! Four against one? That's not even! It's not even even now!"

"Never mind!" Peach snapped.

"Oh, I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time," said Wart. "Here and now, I will finally settle my score with you! Here and now, I shall finally be free of this horrible place as the undisputed ruler of Subcon!"

"And I can finally claim the Mushroom Kingdom!" Bowser added. "I hope you guys said your prayers before coming! You're gonna need all the help you can get; not that it would do you any good!"

Luigi then spoke up with something that had been on his mind for quite some time.

"Huh? Where did I get the Dream Stone?" Wart repeated. He eyed the younger Brother and contemplated. "Oh, what the heck! It's all gonna end here anyway! One of my Sapian operatives found it. It wasn't the whole Stone, though. When my minions were out at Pi'illo Island, one of them found a Coin on the ground. He sensed something special about it, so he took it back with him to the Dream World. Upon entering, the Coin began to glow, as there is always an inundation of dreamy energy here. He brought it to me, and right then, I knew it was from the Dream Stone. I took the Coin and let it sit and absorb dreamy energy for a couple of days, also having as many of my Sapians sleeping as well to charge it even faster. Then when that was done and we were ready to test it, I took it, focused hard and made a wish, and a hope, that it would return to its previous state. And to my delight, it did . . . as you can clearly see!" He pulled it out for them.

"So it was found in a similar way to the Dark Stone?" Toadette asked.

"Exactly! . . . Wait. How do you know about that?" The frog appeared moderately surprised at this unexpected piece of knowledge.

"So the King of Subcon was right about that," Peach said triumphantly. "A shard _did_ enter the Dream World!"

"Arrgh! Enough talking already!" Bowser bellowed. "Let's just whip 'em now!" He then summoned several Goomba and Koopa minions to his side.

"Very well, Bowser my friend," Wart said to him. "It'll be just like old times . . . for _both_ of us!" He pulled out the rest of his Legendary. "It's the end for all of you. Time to say _'Good night!'"_

**XXXXXX**

And so, the battle for the fate of everything began! They saw that Bowser's attacks were pretty typical: He would summon minions such as Goombas, Koopas, Shy Guys, Lakitus, Wigglers, and Bob-ombs; perform shell spin moves; throw hammers at them; or simply try to punch them. Wart even convinced him to spin him by the tail and hurl Bowser at them, mouth open for a launched projectile and bite attack. Bowser would also retreat into his shell to prevent them from jumping on him.

Wart's offense would include summoning some of his own minions including Porcupos, Pidgits, Flurries, Albatosses, and Cobrats along with additional Shy Guys and Bob-ombs. Wart could also use his bubble attack to not only shoot at them, but also to trap one or two of them within bubbles using his Legendary. The other two would then have to rescue their friends while avoiding their foes' attacks. Wart would sometimes entrap Nerr T, who was watching on the sidelines, as well. Even while trapped, Nerr T was excited, as he could give a POV with his smartphone. Wart did not seem to mind this; he could tell that the ASD was of no threat to him, and would even be content on letting the Toad go so as to tell his friends about his heroes' defeat. The two villains (or maybe simply Wart) had certainly thought out how to make a battle challenging! It took some time, but the heroes managed to take out Bowser.

"Ugghh . . . they're too strong!" Bowser gasped.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Wart asked critically, peering over at his comrade. "You're pathetic! No wonder they defeat you all the time! Begone!" And taking his articles, he used their powers to turn Bowser to stone! He then knocked the Koopa King off the turret where the statue tumbled out of sight. The six of them watched all of it, horrified. Wart chuckled maliciously.

"I was never really going to give Bowser the Mushroom Kingdom actually," he told them. "He's a weakling! He never seems to learn from past experience! He's no fit to be a king at all, if you ask me! Think about it: How many times have you hit that button to drop him into lava or pits? A dozen? Why does he even put himself in such a ridiculous scenario over and over again anyway? It's foolish! It's illogical! It's downright silly! Then there are his antics towards capturing you, Toadstool; they never seem to change either. He'd just go over to your Castle and bombard it with his minions and kidnap you . . . all in broad daylight! Everyone always knows who did it! Has he ever done a truly stealthy kidnapping before? I don't think so!

"I knew from the start that I would never be satisfied with just Subcon. With all seven of the Legendary in my possession, I could extend my reign to the Real World and conquer it, too! The Mushroom Kingdom, Beanbean Kingdom, Sarasaland, and all those other kingdoms you visited on the Odyssey — they would all be under my power! It would then be a simple step to extend my influence to the Moon, the Solar System, the Galaxy, heck, even the whole _UNIVERSE!_ It would all be mine to control . . . to shape to my heart's desires! And _you_ guys are the only ones in my way of it! I'm through toying with you now. Time to get serious!"

Seldom had the heroes ever seen such a terrible lust for power. A lust that could easily be assuaged if he were successful in collecting all of the Seven. The odds seemed piled against them, since Wart had the majority of them. Nerr T was also listening in and had recorded the frog's entire evil speech.

"Guys . . ." Toadette spoke up. "I'd say it's pretty obvious as to what this brute's planning to do. He's gonna try to take us all out at once with the power of the Legendary. After what we had seen earlier with the Birdos, whatever he has up his sleeve will surely be indescribably worse. Surely you would agree. We need a way to send back whatever he plans to throw at us." She hesitated.

"Listen . . . I need you to use _me_ as a shield!" Toadette said finally. Her friends all gasped. Such an action like that would be suicidal. "Don't argue with me on this, okay? You all know how stubborn I can be. I have to do this. Princess, remember again that Toad that you would bring with you when you engaged those other fighters and how you used him as a shield. Well, now it's my turn! Everyone, get behind me!" Feeling helpless, they complied.

It had not been a moment too soon. For as soon as they positioned themselves behind Toadette, Wart released his power blast. Toadette was prepared. She focused as much as she could and braved the beam with hardly a whimper, her friends having only taken a tiny fraction of its full effect . . . and even with such a tiny fraction, their HP dropped almost to zero! They could hardly imagine what might have happened to them if they had actually taken its full effect. Something told them that 1-Up Mushrooms would not have been enough that time. They were just as amazed as to how Toadette managed to absorb such a discharge and send it back at her assailant in a spray of spores. Wart was taken aback.

"Goodness me!" Wart said, hardly able to believe how she had survived his blast. He stared at her with antipathy. "You pack quite a punch for a bratty little sister! I didn't even know you toddlers could do that!"

"I am not a toddler!" Toadette shouted in rage.

"Oh? Could a toddler survive this?" Focusing, he released a much more powerful charge at her and began testing her ability by further increasing the intensity of his attack to as high as he could muster in the moment. But Toadette still managed to stand her ground and send his assault back at him, though there was considerable stress in doing so. The counter knocked Wart off his feet.

"Well! It appears that I have still underestimated you!" he said. Everyone could see that Toadette had been significantly weakened by the previous charge. "You are perhaps the most admirable member of your race that I've ever met . . . not that I've met many. But here is where you meet your maker, Toadette. Take _**THIS!"**_And, closing his eyes, Wart concentrated as hard as he could. It was now his intent to call upon the full power of all the Legendary in his possession into a single, near-immeasurable burst. It took quite a while to build it up, so Toadette took the opportunity to pull out a bottle of baby's tears that she had with her. She proceeded to open it and began drinking. Wart was all the while observing her, somewhat flummoxed.

"Having a final, refreshing drink before I cream you?" he asked her as he was charging, pondering the act. "I guess I can't really object to that."

Toadette swallowed the last of the fluid, wiped off her mouth, and faced him again. She felt prepared for anything — a look of the deepest determination now evident on her face, and her eyes looking like they were on fire. Finally, Wart discharged his Armageddon blast and struck his target! It was so incredibly powerful, that it could have leveled the entire Tokyo megalopolis and the surrounding area like kicking over a sand castle. There was an ear-piercing scream that sent shivers down everyone's spines. Peach covered her eyes, unable to bear the sight and almost broke out in tears. Indeed, Toadette's shriek would haunt their dreams for a long time after that.

The assault to end all assaults by itself puzzled the party as well, and they wondered how the turret remained standing. They later found that its effect had even been felt all the way back to Subcon like a clap of thunder and a mild tremor. The omnipotent discharge finally subsided, and everyone around looked to see the result. Toadette was down on her hands and knees (or the closest equivalent). Everyone gasped in astonishment — her whole body was _radiating_ like a light bulb! She had absorbed the entire blast! She appeared to be struggling to stand up, and everyone was startled to see her able to move at all. She finally did manage to pull herself to her feet and again look towards her adversary, eyes aflame. Wart looked utterly shocked.

"N . . . n . . . no . . . great . . . er . . . lo . . . ve . . ." Toadette managed to gasp, her glowing beginning to intensify. And then it happened . . . she released it!

Few words could well describe what Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and company all witnessed next. When they told others about it afterwards, they said that it was simply the most awe-inspiring thing they had ever seen. It was so intense that the whole tower felt like it was going to collapse at any moment! If Wart's assault to end all assaults could be felt back in Subcon, then the counter to end all counters was even more so! It was like a mighty gust of wind. The Subcon began to panic, unsure and frightened as to what was causing it and what it meant for them. Never had Mario and company seen anything like this out of the Toads before; never had they thought that such a humble race of beings could harvest such hidden power as what Toadette had unfurled that day!

When the spores had finally dispersed, they found Wart flat on his back, wiped out. Toadette could be seen standing for a second or two before collapsing facedown to the ground herself. All was quiet.

"Oh, Toadette!" Peach cheered. "You _did _it! You took him out all by yourself! I'm so proud of you!" She ran over and kneeled at her side. There was no response.

"Toadette? Can you hear me?" Peach asked. The rest of the group now approached their friend. Stuffwell then emerged and checked her vital signs. The suitcase stood there for several moments in silence before looking at Peach. And for once, Stuffwell kept his answer simple and brief:

"She . . . she's dead."

The Princess immediately burst into tears.

**"**_**NOOOO!**__ Toadette!"_ Peach screamed in despair. She fell upon the body and began to weep bitterly. The Brother both knelt as well . . . even Mario began sobbing. Nerr T went to Stuffwell teary-eyed.

"Can't . . . can't we revive her with a 1-Up Mushroom?" he asked.

"1-Up Mushrooms will not help Toadette now," Stuffwell said solemnly. "They are only useful if one faints. But she is beyond repair . . . She's gone, Nerr T." And the ASD began to cry as well. For the next few minutes, they all crowded around Toadette's body, mourning her death.

However, and unfortunately, their weeping was cut drastically short and replaced with the deepest horror upon seeing Wart begin to rise again. He had only been knocked out for several minutes from Toadette's final counter. On seeing the outcome and the tears in everyone's eyes, he began to laugh out loud sadistically.

"Oh, how sad!" he mocked them. "And in the end, Toadette died for nothing — laid her life down for a hopeless cause! I've always been disgusted by self-sacrifice . . . this _sacrificial love_ drivel! And without her to shield you, Toadstool, _you_ guys are as good as dead, too! Face it I've _won!_ And now, it's time to finish you once and for all!" He raised his hands so as to summon his Legendary and deliver the final blow with the greatest ease. However, he found to his surprise that they did not respond. In the next moment, the four of them began to rise up into the air.

"Huh?" Wart muttered. "What's going on?"

Suddenly Stuffwell was forced open, and the three Legendary that the Bros had collected rose in turn to meet with the others. The Seven had finally united, and they all moved in a circle above the battlefield.

"What are they doing?" Peach thought aloud.

After hovering there for several moments, they slowly descended. Six of them began to circle around Wart, who observed them all the while in uncertainty and nervousness. The seventh, which happened to be the Toadstool Gem, went over to the Bros' party. It glowed, and then suddenly produced a giant turnip right into Peach's hands. Then the other six restrained the frog with a barrier similar to that that bathed Subspace.

"No! You can't do this to me! Stop I —" But Wart wasn't able to finish, as the entities forced open his mouth. Their foe now looked utterly terrified. Peach looked over to the Brothers and winked.

"It looks like the Legendary Seven are inviting us!" she told them. Right as she said this, the Toadstool Gem spawned several more vegetables into Mario's and Luigi's hands in an obvious confirmation. They winked back. "Ready . . . aim . . . _FIRE!"_

And so, the vegetable chucking began! The Legendary produced the food while the trio threw them into Wart's mouth, even letting Nerr T join the fray. Nerr T was laughing his head off as he fed vegetable after vegetable to the nightmare. From turnips to carrots to radishes to lettuce, the Legendary produced every kind of vegetable that they knew Wart hated. The four of them continued their frenzy for several minutes until the frog looked like he were about to explode. At a certain point, the Legendary stopped. Wart wasn't going anywhere or doing anything now.

"I go by 'Peach' now, by the way," the Princess said to him, hands on her hips.

And yet, the superstar team couldn't revel in their victory, for it had come at a heavy cost. Toadette was dead, and they knew that there was nothing they could do about that. Tears again began to form in their eyes.

"When we return to the Castle," Peach spoke to them, wiping her eyes. "I will put the funeral preparations together. I don't want anyone to forget her bravery. Toadette was a true hero!"

As they turned to retrieve her body, the Legendary suddenly hovered over to it. The party observed it all in anticipation. The Seven circled around Toadette and began to glow; after a few moments, her body also began to glow; and . . . to their great astonishment, they heard a gasp for breath! They saw the Toad lift her head, look around, and bring herself to her feet. Toadette had been raised from the dead! Who knew that the Legendary were capable of that? Tears of joy now filled the Princess' eyes.

**"**_**Toadette!"**_ she squealed, running over to her and giving her a hug.

"Uh . . . d . . . did we win?" Toadette mumbled.

"Yes, sweetie! We won!"

Toadette looked at the frog. "Wh . . . what did you guys do to Wart, stuff him?"

"That's exactly what we did, as a matter of fact," Peach told her. "He's been engorged with vegetables . . . fresh from the garden!"

"Oh, yeah!" Toadette recalled. "I remember now. Toad told me that he had a weakness to veggies."

"**Princess Peach!"** the Beanstar called out. Peach saw it descend to her.

"Thank you!" Peach cried. "Why did you bring Toadette back to life?"

"**It was not yet her time,"** the entity told her gently. **"There is still much that is needed of her."**

"Wait, what?" Toadette's heart skipped a beat at this. "Back to life? . . . Was I . . . d . . . dead?" Nerr T went to her and showed her his video of them all mourning for her. The scene was so emotional that Toadette started weeping immediately. She hugged him tightly and held fast for several minutes, crying.

"Beanstar," Peach started. "Why did you all betray Wart? You usually grant those that have you great power."

"**For many millennia, we had been wandering the stars,"** the Beanstar began. **"When we came upon your world and saw its people's many hardships, we wanted to help make people happier."**

"But you _can't_ please everybody!" Peach explained. "Everyone's mind is different . . . unique. We all have different tastes and opinions."

"**We hadn't truly understood that until today,"** the Beanstar said. **"We had always struggled to understand the nature of this world's inhabitants. We did not understand why some wished for destruction while others wished for peace. We followed our inner calling by scattering across this sphere and to try to better piece it together, but nothing made sense to us. But this day, we saw your friend Toadette die bravely in battle for what she believed was right, and we had never witnessed such a profound and noble act all together. If there's one thing we have noticed during our time here, we have seen that death is not happy. Death has always brought sadness as was demonstrated by you today. So when the great frog arose and rejoiced upon seeing it, it finally occurred to us, as a collective, that not everyone had the same desires . . . that there are beings out there that strive only for their own happiness and their own pleasures and thinking nothing about the suffering to others — perhaps even taking delight in it. We finally understood that we had to pick sides, and making him happy would mean great sorrow for many more."**

"So even though you knew that death wasn't happy," Peach clarified, "you were still granting everyone's desires to make them happy. Don't you remember when Bowser had the Dream Stone and was about to use it to make Mario and Luigi disappear? He was practically asking it to kill them!

"**We do remember this. But the Dream Stone wouldn't have killed them, but simply send them to another dimension. Bowser would have been happy, and the Brothers would have been happy to still keep their lives."**

"So you still didn't see the underlying evil and self-centeredness of his wish. Was it from being together that really got you guys to see this?"

"**We always have a link with each other,"** the entity replied. **"And the closer we all are, the stronger and more intimate the link becomes. Being together to witness all these things, we were finally able to convey this message efficiently. There is still much about human nature that we have yet to understand."**

"Perhaps I could help you with that, Beanstar," the Princess offered. "If it's something you want to hear. Now that you're free from Wart's influence and possession, we can return you all to where you belong."

"So . . . what are we gonna do with Wart now?" Toadette asked her friends, finally relaxing her embrace with the ASD and still sobbing. But just as she was saying those words, they looked over at their vanquished foe to behold him beginning to inflate like a balloon.

"Look out!" Peach shouted. "He's gonna blow!"

When Wart did explode, they were quite surprised (and maybe even a little relieved) to find that instead of innards, a form of dark energy . . . similar to that that emitted from Neo Bowser Castle on Pi'illo Island. The whole spectacle reminded them of the destruction of Antasma . . . except much more spectacular. When the dust finally settled and dispersed, and they could see in front of them, there on the stony ground of the turret they found to their utter astonishment, a tiny frog! Hardly an inch long! Was this really what the great Wart, king of nightmares, leader of the 8-Bits had been all this time? How could such a humble little stereotypically green frog such as that turn into one of the greatest threats they had ever known? They could hardly believe it!

"I'll make sure that he never harms anyone ever again!" Toadette said suddenly. She ran over and caught the frog. And then . . . Toadette swallowed it — whole and alive! She had a disgusted yet determined look on her face, which suddenly and unexpectedly turned into one of utter delight!

"Mmm, tasty!"

"Ew!" Peach gulped.

Toadette then belched and walked back to the group, licking her chops; a look of deep satisfaction and accomplishment on her face. Nerr T had caught it all on video as well. Her friends looked at her nauseously at what they had just seen — except Nerr T, who was trying as hard as he could to keep from bursting out laughing, recalling his conversation with her from earlier.

"Gross! You _ate_ him?" Peach gagged. Toadette looked up at her and giggled.

"Did it taste like chicken?" Nerr T asked humorously.

"Three words: Best . . . payback . . . ever!" she said proudly.

The whole group burst out laughing.

"Well . . ." Peach said, trying as hard as she could not to hurl. "I guess that settles it. Wart is gone for good. Let's return to Subcon and celebrate!" And the six of them all headed back to the portal.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"We did it, Your Majesty!" exclaimed Princess Peach to the King once they returned to Subcon, her father at her side at last. "Wart has been defeated, and you won't have to worry about him ever again!"

"Subcon is once again in your debt," Osama addressed, his Commander also with him. "We can never thank you enough!" He went up and shook the Princess' hand. "So what happened to him? Can you tell?"

"Toadette ate him!" shouted Nerr T ecstatically. The King laughed.

"Seriously, what happened to him?" he repeated.

"No, Nerr T's right! She really did eat him!" Peach said. And as if in confirmation, Toadette suddenly belched loudly before she realized it was coming. She blushed deeply in embarrassment, especially in front of a royal figure. But everyone laughed aloud at it, though; even Dreambert chuckled.

"No joke, Your Highness," Nerr T laughed. "You see, in the end, the Legendary all turned against him. Wart was restrained by them while we all threw vegetables into his mouth. He suddenly started blowing up like a balloon and exploded in a burst of dark matter. When it cleared, we looked to see a tiny frog hopping about, which in itself was quite unexpected. But then, to our greater amusement, Toadette caught it and _*gulp*_ swallowed him alive! She literally had a frog in her throat!" And Nerr T quickly pulled up the video he had taken and showed it to Osama, who laughed aloud.

"Well, that's very ironic!" he breathed. "He was threatening to subdue the whole universe, and in the end, he got eaten by a humble Toad!"

"Eaten and digested!" Toadette giggled, rubbing her belly. "And to my surprise, he was quite tasty, too! I would never have guessed that frogs tasted good! You see, I myself had been eaten alive by one of his Sapian operatives. Mario, Luigi, and Peach here defeated the creature, who then regurgitated me. I was happy to have escaped with my life. When I saw the tiny amphibian hopping about, I knew that it'd be a fitting payback, so I ate him! I thought it was gonna be really gross . . . what with having something slimy and _alive_ in my mouth, but it felt _SO_ good feeling that frog slipping down my throat as I swallowed it! I never would have thought that swallowing something could feel so completely and utterly satisfying! That was quite probably the most adventurous thing I'd ever done!"

"Hey, Toadette!" said Nerr T, walking over to her. "I just came up with the most hilarious haiku to describe that!"

"Let's hear it!" she said. Nerr T cleared his throat, stepped out in front of the group and began:

_Froggy down the hatch._

_Swallowed up in victory._

_Best payback ever!_

Toadette suddenly burst out laughing along with most everyone else. There were quite a number of Subcon around them that also laughed pompously at the witty poem.

"Well done! Well done!" Osama laughed. He looked at the Princess. "There is one other thing that I have been wondering, Peach. Why did the Legendary betray Wart in the end? It had always been said that they would grant anyone's desires regardless of their moral standing. Did something else happen that Nerr T hadn't told me about?" Peach suddenly looked quite solemn.

"It was sad . . ." she began. "Toadette did send several counters back at Wart, but the last one, which was perhaps the most indescribable thing I've ever seen . . . the last one was so draining that she . . ." Peach swallowed uncomfortably. ". . . she . . . died."

"Died?" the King said, startled. He looked over at the Toad who seemed quite alive and well to him. "She actually . . . sacrificed herself for you?" Osama couldn't help but contemplate this for several moments.

"I've always heard that the Toads in your Kingdom were loyal to you," he continued, "but . . . I never would have thought that it could go to _that_ extreme! How incredibly noble of you, Toadette! _Nothing_ will ever beat that!" He looked back at Peach. "So how did . . ."

"The Legendary brought her back to life," Peach explained. "On their own, I might add; we didn't ask them to. They said that it was not yet her time, and that she had much to do before it _was_ time. Apparently, they said that when they saw her lay her life down for us — for everyone, I might say — and seeing us all weeping over her body, then seeing Wart get up and start laughing out loud at our misfortune . . . they told us they finally realized what it meant to truly make people happy. They finally realized, together as a collective, that you _couldn't_ please everybody and that they had to pick sides. They had to consider the _common_ good rather than the good of whomever they were in the possession with . . . otherwise it'd be like trying to have everyone win the lottery at the same time!"

"Now that definitely makes sense," the Commander commented. "They realized that those with evil intents should not be given anything they wanted as it would certainly mean pain and destruction for so many others."

"That sounds about right," Peach said. "Now that Wart is finally gone, I take it you now no longer need that barrier?" And even as she was speaking, the Legendary went over to the portal and began working their omnipotent handywork. The seven of them all came together and began to glow collectively. Suddenly, there was a very loud shattering sound. Shards of dreamy energy scattered all over the courtyard, but it was harmless to everyone there. The Legendary then returned to the group, still hovering and circling above them.

"**The barrier is no more,"** the Beanstar told them. **"With the great frog destroyed, his minions will no longer harm you."**

"Thank you," Peach said. "Let's return you to your proper places."

"Hey, Peach! What's the holdup?" came the impatient voice of Bowser from the other room. He walked into their midst. "You chatterboxes've been babbling on and on forever! Are we gonna leave soon?"

"Almost, sweetie," Peach replied gently. "We were wrapping up now." Bowser suddenly looked very uneasy, as though he were trying to say something he didn't want to say.

"You know, Princess . . ." he said at last. His voice was relatively gentle. "I . . . I have to thank you for changing me back back there . . . I have to admit it. I don't understand why you did it, but . . . it was . . . very . . . k . . . _KIND_ . . . of you . . ." Even Bowser could see the kindness in Peach returning him to normal. He didn't like saying it, as it was so against his nature, but he couldn't help it. He had a very reluctant look on his face, and he was even sweating.

"Why thank you, Bowser!" Peach said with a giggle. "I'm so glad to hear you admit that. Don't worry, there's no shame in that." She went up and gave him an affectionate hug. Bowser then put his arm around her in an effort to show some affection back.

"If you can remain calm and non-threatening," Peach told him. "I will let you partake in our festival, okay?" The Koopa King grunted.

Peach then sent a message to Professor E. Gadd to create a Dream Portal so that they could return and prepare. In the next minute, the Portal appeared for them.

"I must return to my domain," Peach told Osama. "My father and I have much to do over the next few days, as we are putting together an eclipse festival! This is going to be a total solar eclipse! It's in only a matter of days!"

"I hope you enjoy it!" he replied.

"It is a rare event indeed!" the Commander added.

"Goodbye, everyone!" The Princess proclaimed. "We'll see you all in our dreams!" And the eight of them all entered the Portal.

**XXXXXX**

Upon exiting, they found that they were back at the Castle. Toadsworth, Professor E. Gadd, Prince Dreambert, Princess Daisy, and Charlie were all there to greet them along with a swarm of Toads including _the_ Toad, Toadbert, Toadiko, and the entire Toad Brigade. The Lakitu Bros were there to film everything. They all stepped out like celebrities getting out of a limousine and walked through the midst of all the Toads along with Koopas, Shy Guys, Yoshis, Piantas, Goombas, and even Sapians that were also present. Toadette went up to her brother and gave him a big hug, then proceeded to introduce the ASD to him, Captain Toad and the rest of the Toad Brigade, Toadsworth and all the other major Toads present.

"You did it, Princess!" Charlie shouted. "You've saved the kingdom — maybe even the world!" Peach looked up in the sky to see the thin crescent Moon to the west. There was still plenty of time to prepare.

"It's good to be back, Princess," the Mushroom King said, looking over at the Bros and at his daughter with pride. "I knew I could count on all of you." The group finally made their way to the front entrance of the Castle.

"I just knew that you'd figure out what I meant back on Yoshi's Peak when I told you to 'stay out of my study,' Princess!" the King added. "I still remember that day when I caught you in there. Perhaps it was destined to happen for this very moment."

"Father, how did you know that that chest was tied with the Toadstool Gem?" Peach asked him in curiosity.

"Well, the small gem on the front looks just like the real thing, and my father had also told me that it was connected with the Gem," the King answered. "Peach, that chest had been in the Toadstool Regime for centuries — handed down to me by my father, and his father before, and so on and so on. And while they all could enter the Yoshi Sphinx to access the Gem itself, _none_ of them had ever been able to open the chest, not a single one of my ancestors! So when I saw you that day, 10 years old with the chest open, I was utterly shocked!"

"Is that why?" Peach inquired. "I do remember that look on your face and wondering why you reacted that way. It seemed a little out of place."

"It certainly would be, Princess," the Mushroom King responded. "Got any ideas on why _you_ were able to open it when no other monarch in our entire genealogy could?" Peach thought about it for a few moments, then she suddenly remembered one particular line from the message that they had found. She pulled out the parchment, and showed it to her father.

"Wow! Those are some interesting characters," the King commented. "To be honest, it never occurred to me to actually look at it all that time ago to see what it was. All I saw was that it was a very old sheet of parchment, and I didn't want you to damage it. At the age you were, it was certainly possible."

"Stuffwell was able to decipher this message for us," Peach told him. "But so was Nerr T. In fact, Nerr T had cracked it before Stuffwell had even seen it! He translated the message for us, and I remember there being a line that read, 'Only the ones that would be destined to take down the nightmare would be able to open this chest.'" The King looked intrigued.

"My daughter . . . chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy?" The King thought about this for several moments. "It's almost too much to take in. Who wrote that message?"

"Agaricus the Great."

"My goodness!" the Mushroom King exclaimed. "This chest is _many_ centuries older than I thought it was!"

"We have also discovered that that message has connected us to the Beanbean Kingdom!" Peach added. "Check this out! It says that Agaricus the Great had married Princess Leguima of the Beanish!"

"Are you saying that you and I have Beanish heritage?"

"Yes!" she responded. "Queen Bean and company were surprised, too, when I told it to them."

"How about that!" the King said. He carefully took the manuscript from his daughter. "Let's frame this parchment and hang it in the Castle Museum. As it has now come to pass, it should be out for others to see. _I_ can take care of this. You go prepare for the eclipse party." And the King also found that he could now open the chest! With prophecy fulfilled, its enchantment was now gone.

**XXXXXX**

"I had a lot of fun on this adventure, Toadette," said Nerr T as the two of them were standing there waving to the crowd.

"I did, too, sweetie," Toadette responded. She looked over at him and figured it was now an appropriate time to ask. "You look like you've wanted to tell me something for a while now, haven't you?"

Nerr T looked back at her and swallowed. He hesitated.

"Well . . . to be frank . . . uh . . . I kinda . . . er . . . well . . ."

"Had a crush on me?" Toadette finished, snickering, knowing full well what he was about to say. The ASD blushed so much that his entire face turned red. She laughed aloud at this. "Oh, come on, Nerr T! It was quite obvious from the moment I first set my eyes on you!"

"Please don't be mad at me," Nerr T said nervously and with resignation. "I know it's silly to put my hopes in something like that."

"Aw, don't worry about it, Nergle! It's all good!" Toadette assured him. "To be perfectly frank back, I'd say that I kind of began to develop a little crush on you myself as we traveled together. You're super smart, you have a wonderful charm, and a great sense of humor! Honest! I think you're really cute!"

"_. . . especially when you blush!" _she added in her head.

Nerr T chuckled bashfully. "If you say so . . . but . . . I'm sure you've found a lot of other cute Toads out there."

"And did I forget to mention that you've rescued me _twice_ from certain doom?" added Toadette quizzingly, taking a step toward him. "I've developed a lot of respect for you, Nerr T."

"And . . . with all those cute Toads out there," Nerr T continued with his thought. "I'm sure that you've already found a boyfriend in one of them, given your status. I mean, you're practically a celebrity!"

"Perhaps," Toadette replied. "But just because I have notoriety doesn't necessarily mean that I should be labeled as in a relationship." She took another step toward him and took his hand.

"I know what you're thinking. You feel unworthy of my attention . . . like too much of a nobody — to ever get noticed by so-called superstars. You feel like my social status is beyond your reach. But I'd say that after this adventure, your status should increase by a hundredfold! Everyone knows about Mario here in the Mushroom Kingdom, and anyone who travels with him is always put in the spotlight! Whether it be Geno, Prince Mallow, F.L.U.D.D., Starlow, Dreambert, or Cappy! Think about it, Starlow was known only to the Star Sprites before she met Mario, and she'd been chosen to be their representative for the Mushroom Kingdom in that Blorbs outbreak conference. We all know what happened then! Cappy was probably on the lower end of the totem pole until he met Mario and became the replacement for his cap. Now they're inseparable! Seriously! Everyone gets noticed! I'm absolutely positive that you will be no exception, Nergle.

"Now, to tell you the truth, I'd never really found anyone that has seriously captivated me after all this time . . . until I met you, that is," Toadette continued. "I've always wanted to have a relationship, don't get me wrong . . . but for some reason, I've felt no deeper attraction to anyone. It's puzzled me for a long time. Now I certainly do get along well with lots of Toads, and I would say that many of them are indeed cute! . . . but . . . I've never sensed any deeper interest in them besides being a good friend. There's something about _you_ that has enticed me more than anyone else . . . I think it may be your autism."

"My autism?" repeated Nergle. "But all my life I've felt that that was what _separated_ me, _hindered_ me from making friendships when I was younger. They looked at me and thought I was a weirdo. How can you look at my disability now and call it _attractive?"_

"Perhaps it was because they never bothered to discover your strengths like I have," Toadette responded. "If they saw how ridiculously intelligent you are, they wouldn't judge you quite so critically about the other stuff. You're a computer science major, which should have been impressive by itself. But I've gotten to see that you're super talented in tons of other disciplines: programming, circuitry, mechanical systems . . . then a good bit of history, grammar, and even learning another language, too! Does your brain even have a capacity limit?! You're amazing, Nergle! And above all this knowledge, you have the sweetest heart and a bravery to be admired. And all this has made me immensely attracted to you . . . even your quirkiness is cute!"

"But what about Captain Toad? He's rescued you from Wingo . . ."

"True," admitted Toadette. "Captain Toad and I are companions during our numerous explorations together, and I can say that we've gotten our share of abductions by Wingo, but we've never been an item. We do look after each other, we stick together whenever possible, and we'll go to whatever measures necessary to find each other when separated. That's what explorers do, but that doesn't mean we're attracted to each other. Companions are not necessarily lovers, Nergle. Looking back at everything and all the relationships that I've had, the only one that I'd had the greatest affection for would probably be Toad . . . and that's simply because he's my brother!

"So, to put it bluntly . . . I . . . I don't actually _have_ a boyfriend!" Toadette admitted. She smiled bashfully, and Nerr T could see that she was actually blushing a little bit herself. He couldn't help but chuckle. Toadette put her hands on his shoulders. She was now only inches from his face . . . and closing.

"But . . . I do now!"

"Huh?"

And then, Toadette kissed Nerr T right on the lips in front of everyone! Mario and company cheered. In fact, the entire crowd went wild. The Lakitu Bros also focused their cameras down on the two so that the kiss was shown largely and proudly on the giant jumbotron above them.

"_Whoo hoooo!"_ Kino shouted from his dorm room. He and all of his other roommates were watching the event live on his smartphone. "Way to go, Nergle!"

Toadette held the kiss for nearly a minute, letting Nerr T savor the moment and sensation as deeply as he could (as well as for herself), though to the ASD it felt much longer. Not once had he tried to win her affection, believing it to be a hopeless ambition — a silly celebrity crush. And yet . . . here he was, lips locked with her on live television . . . all come about from him simply being himself! When Toadette finally released him, she again giggled upon seeing that his face was a bright red; and Nerr T was even more embarrassed upon noticing the Lakitu Bros' cameras right there in front of them filming everything. They gave him a wink and a thumbs up.

"Wow! That felt amazing! Better than I thought it would!" Toadette said gaily. "You're a great kisser, Nerr T!" The ASD continued to chuckle.

"Uh . . . hey, Toadette," he stammered. "Um . . . after your concert . . . wo . . . would you like to go out to dinner?"

"That would be wonderful!" she responded excitedly.

"But," added Nerr T, "no fugu, okay? I don't have the budget for that."

"Nah! Why don't we just get Italian!" Toadette suggested. She glanced over at Mario and Luigi, who both burst out laughing.

"Sure thing! It's a date!" The ASD said triumphantly. Toadette gave her new boyfriend a hug, then went to prepare for her concert. Toad also went up and gave him a hug, thrilled to see his little sister in a relationship.

"Hey, is there gonna be a piano there?" Nerr T called out to her. She looked back at him.

"Yes. Do you play?"

"Yeah. I've taken lessons. I can play pretty well."

"That's awesome!" Toadette started. "I know just the piece! I've been looking for someone to play with me for this duet that I've been working on. Don't worry; it's not that complicated. Wanna come over and practice?"

"Sure!" And Nerr T then ran over to Toadette and they walked off hand in hand to her Music Room to practice. Peach and Starlow both watched them, enamored with their growing affection for one another.

"How sweet!" Starlow commented. "It looks like Nerr T's found himself a girlfriend! They make a lovely couple; they're both really talented!"

"I wonder how Nergle will handle all this newfound fame," Peach added. "Adventuring with Mario gets one noticed around here, that's for sure!"

"He's still got a long way to go towards independence," the Mushroom King said. "He needs all the help he can get."

"Right," Peach said. "I'd better start getting everything in order for the festival." She turned and kissed her father gently on the cheek. "I'm so happy to have you back, father! I love you so much!"

"I love you, too, Princess" he said passionately, giving her a hug. "Let's get this show on the road!" And the two of them headed inside.

**XXXXXX**

The day of the eclipse finally arrived, and the forecast was bright and sunny all day! Not a cloud could be seen in the sky, and everyone was enjoying the sunshine. The Broodals had gathered tons and tons of straw hats for all the guests to use for viewing the pinhole effect. They told the Princess that organizing this event was one of the most gratifying jobs they had ever had, even more than from Bowser's wedding; it didn't even bother them that they couldn't steal anything this time. Tiara had arrived the previous day and had been spending a lot of time with the Princess — usually on her head, as she had learned to assume the form of Peach's crown. So Peach put her regular crown up in her bedroom. At this point, she felt that she didn't really need it, as everyone knew who she was.

The Toad Town square had turned on their recreational fountain jets, and there were dozens of Toads splashing about in the water. Within the fray were Nerr T and Toadette in their swimsuits. They seemed to be having a ton of fun together. Toadette would often use her Icyhand power to make snow cones — or at least a couple of snowballs to throw at him.

Once partiality began, they dried themselves off and headed over to the festival, where they obtained a pair of eclipse goggles to view the spectacle with (with the station being headed by Spewart). Toadette and Nerr T ended up viewing the syzygy with DeMille and Patharan, and they noticed that, color-wise, they were similar couples. Bowser and his son Bowser Jr were there, too, having obtained goggles themselves. They appeared to have cast aside any malicious thoughts and were simply enjoying the event. Bowser even agreed to host Toadette's recital at his own Castle. Many of his minions were there, too, including Kamek, the Elite Trio, and the seven Koopalings; all having put their animosity aside. The Sapians were all present, too. With Wart gone, they all lost the passion for evil and simply strived to coexist with everyone. Even Wario and Waluigi were there and cooperating as best they could, though Peach had been very stern with them about any mischief making. Wario had plenty of space as all the other guests around stayed well clear of him, but not because of his personality. He hadn't showered all week and was quite smelly. The anticipation grew over the next hour as the Moon's disk slowly moved over that of the Sun's. Professor E. Gadd was counting down the seconds until totality hit: fifteen minutes . . . ten minutes . . . five minutes . . . two minutes . . .

And then it happened! The light level dropped drastically and abruptly down to mid-twilight levels in a matter of seconds! There . . . in the sky, was the black disk of the Moon! The Sun's corona as bright as that of a full Moon. Everyone was screaming in ecstasy at the rarity of the event and were all mesmerized at how they could look at totality without being blinded. They were also spellbound at the uniqueness of the orange-red effect of a 360-degree sunset! Toadette and Nerr T were both watching the event together, still in their swimsuits (as they hadn't bothered to change); and when totality hit, she turned and passionately locked lips with him again.

"This is perhaps the greatest day of my life!" Nerr T thought to himself.

Totality lasted for just over three minutes. Right before the Sun peeked out again, everyone beheld the bright shape of the Comet Observatory streaking across the sky. Rosalina was heading back to the stars. It was a wonderful way to end the celestial phenomenon. Seconds after the Observatory disappeared in the sky, the equally exciting diamond-ring effect could be seen as the Moon continued its course. The celestial lights once again turned on in a matter of seconds as the Sun's blinding photosphere began to reappear. Everyone gave a rousing cheer and applause as they put their goggles back on — except Wario and Waluigi, who didn't seem all that impressed, leaving promptly after. None of them would ever forget that day!

The day was far from over, though. Later, Nerr T, sitting in the front row of the theater in Bowser's Castle, watched his new girlfriend playing her instruments in her long-overdue concert. He had remembered hearing about how a Hammer Bro had destroyed many of her instruments the first time she tried to perform. She did have a few other Toads play with her for any multiple instrument pieces, as Toadette couldn't be a one-girl-band based on the nature, and quantity, of all her instruments. Finally, it was time to bring out the piano. It was over fifteen feet long, as Toads' hands were too small to play anything fancy on an ordinary one, and to accommodate for a narrower keyboard, the length was made much longer to utilize thinner strings. This allowed her to play some of her favorite classical pieces. She even played one of Ludwig von Koopa's sonatas, which surprised him. Toadette had saved her duet for last. She went over to Nerr T and brought him onstage. Nerr T had played in several recitals during his lessons in front of a modest number of people, but he had never played in front of an audience as big as this. He was very nervous. But after taking a few deep breaths, the two sat down and began their duet. After about a minute, the ASD felt more relaxed as he really began to focus on the piece. He managed to make it through without any noticeable errors. After the dramatic, powerful climax, Nerr T felt very proud of himself for playing so well. The audience went wild! The two Toads got up and bowed together. Toadette then gave him another kiss on the cheek, further wooed by how multitalented he was. Feeling a little embarrassed for having never returned the favor, he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. This made her giggle.

"Let me go clean up, and I'll be ready for some pasta!" she told him.

They chose a little Italian restaurant just outside of Toad Town. Coincidentally, DeMille and Patharan decided to stop there, too. The four of them all sat at a single table in a double date. Toadette went into detail about their adventure with the young couple while DeMille went into detail about his adventure in his native Ketchup Kingdom. He ended up having several adventures after that, including one in the neighboring Pimento Kingdom, the Aubergine Kingdom, and the Brussel Kingdom. After finishing and paying, Nerr T took Toadette home, while he stayed overnight at the Castle.

The next morning, Nerr T gave them his farewell, as he had to return to Sarasaland to finish his studies. His professor had scheduled to meet that night for his private sessions and had to prepare. Mario agreed to give transportation. The Odyssey was all set and ready to fly out.

"Goodbye, Princess!" Nerr T said. "I had a lot of fun! It was exciting, terrifying, action-packed, and unexpectedly romantic! I'm honored to have met you guys."

"I don't think we could have done it without you, Nerr T!" Peach replied. "Stuffwell may have also managed to decipher the message, but you translated it. You also assisted us in getting into the Dream World, and you saved us all out in Subspace with those giant Birdos as well! You were an integral part of our team, and we shall always remember your bravery."

"Really?! Oh, thank you so much!" Then he went up and gave her a big hug.

"Hey Nergle, check this out!" Toadette said. She handed him an issue of the _Fungus Feature_ news magazine. Nerr T's heart skipped a beat upon seeing it. There, proudly shown on the front page, were the two of them kissing out in front of the Castle with the title "Prophecy Ends in Romantic Fashion." "Kylie Koopa got us on the front page! What do you think?"

"I . . . I . . . uh . . . I don't know what to say . . ." the ASD stuttered.

"I'd say that you'll soon have some fans yourself!" Toadette told him. "I'll look forward to when you return after the semester is over!"

"I'll look forward to it, too!" Nerr T replied. The two then had one last kiss before leaving.

"Farewell, Toadette," he said. "Stay cute! Perhaps soon, we'll have more adventures to share together!" Then Nerr T finally boarded the Odyssey with Mario, and the airship rose up into the sky.

Soon, the Toad found himself back at the Sarasacademy complex. Upon approaching his cabin, Kino ran out to meet the two of them.

"Congratulations, Nerr T!" he said. "How does it feel to be a superstar like Mario? How does it feel to have Toadette as a girlfriend?"

"I don't know," the ASD responded. "I'll probably get used to it someday. I should get my stuff prepared for my sessions with professor Yamauchi, though." He looked back at the plumber. "Mario, it was a great honor to play a part in your adventure. I would never have known that this was coming." Nerr T then hesitated momentarily. "Well . . . maybe I could have. I was friends with Princess Daisy, after all.

"You know what . . ." Nerr T started again. "I can't help but recall this one episode of a particular TV show I remember seeing about a trio of colorful superheroes. You see, there was this one journalist in that episode that wanted to get their interview, but before he could get anywhere near the scene of the crime, the three of them took care of it and flew away. He chased them around the city for some time before he got lucky. He ended up being right there when the villain attacked. More than that, the adversary actually chose _him_ as a captive. So the journalist is now in the victim's point of view and recording the entire scene. He gets a first-person perspective of what it's like to be rescued by the three superheroes. In the end, the journalist got much more than he bargained for, and made his documentary all the more exciting and informative.

"Perhaps my scenario is very similar to that. I was always a big fan of your adventures, Mario. I had always wanted to meet you in person someday. I felt like knowing Princess Daisy would be the closest thing to that. But then came that parchment, and all of a sudden, I not only got to meet you, but I got to partake in your adventure as well! And above that, Toadette became my girlfriend! What more could a Mario fan want?!" Nerr T then gave the plumber an affectionate hug. "You're the best, Mario! Stay cool! Keep that moustache clean of any pasta sauce! I hope to see you all again soon after the semester is over! I need to find some more activities for Toadette and me to do. Goodbye! Thanks for everything!"

And the two roommates watched as the Odyssey rose from the ground and off into the sky and out of sight.

**THE END**

* * *

_So there you have it: My first amateurish piece of literature. It's my hope that I can eventually turn this story into an actual RPG fangame. I have put a lot of thought into the game mechanics — some of which I have depicted here, but many of which I haven't. However, I believe that it wouldn't be worth developing if people didn't like the storyline. So feedback would be highly appreciated._

_Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I hope to maybe hear from some of you. This is JaberandCamgar (but you can call me Jeremy), wishing you a good day and saying goodbye._


End file.
